By Jimmy Daniels
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

“Secure” card maker HID Corp. is complaining and making legal threats about a presentation at this week’s Black Hat Federal security conference, saying that it could make it easy to clone many proximity door access cards. The presentation is going to address security issues with RFID proximity cards that are made by HID and other companies for such things as secure building access, he will demonstrate how easy it is to steal access codes, store them and then use them to fool the card reader.

“These systems are installed all over the place. It’s not just HID, but lots of companies, and there hasn’t been a problem. Now we’ve got a person who’s saying let’s get publicity for our company and show everyone how to do it, and it puts everyone at risk. Where’s the sense of responsibility?” Carroll said.

Asked why HID hasn’t addressed the issue in more recent proximity card systems, after knowledge of RFID threats became common, Carroll said that doing so would cause “major upheaval” among customers.

Inertia is a more likely cause, said Dan Kaminsky, director of penetration testing at IOActive. Source: Battle brewing over RFID chip-hacking demo

We Say: Where is the sense of responsibility indeed. If everyone is at risk, but not everyone knows about it, why not fix it before everyone does? The main reason in this case is probably backwards compatibility and loss of revenue, as existing customers would have to upgrade, and, heck, they still have stuff to sell them.

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

Hmmm … maybe I should continue to put off installing Vista. I was planning on doing it this weekend … it seems that Microsoft freely admits there’s a bug (fortunately, already patched by a “recommended” update) which has forced (or is forcing) users who already activated their Vista install to re-activate … even for something as simple as installing, say, QuickBooks.

“You may be prompted to activate Windows Vista on a computer on which Windows Vista activation was not previously required,” Microsoft said in a support document last updated Feb. 15. “Although this problem rarely occurs, it may occur during typical use of a Windows Vista-based computer. For example, this problem may occur under one or more of the following conditions: You install a device driver, you install a program, you run a new program, you remove a program.”

One Vista user commenting on Microsoft’s Windows Vista Validation Issues support forum reported that he ran into the bug after he had updated his PC’s BIOS. Source: ComputerWorld

We Say: Only when installing a device driver, program, running a new program or removing a program. Hmmm … that sounds like … all the time (potentially). This is one of the reasons I hate activation. Bugs. Remember when Symantec first came out with activation for their AV software, and all the bugs there were?

By Martin Regtien
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

You might remember the very innovative Canovo Dual-TouchScreen Tablet/Notebook that was reported on recently.
Innovative because the keyboard has been replaced by another touchscreen! There are some obvious great advantages to this (and some minor problems as well). Think of truly being able to customise your keyboard for every task and having double the screen size when needed!
Well, we have some more info on this concept machine.
I spoke with Valerio Cometti, managing director of V12 Design in Milano, Italy.
Check out on DigitalReviews.net what he said.

By Chief Gizmateer
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into Wii gaming, the PC Magazine editors have named the top 10 Wii-related accidents to date and the winners are:

1. Crack in television
2. Hole in window
3. Wiimote-shaped dent in wall
4. Shattered 4-inch PDA screen
5. Severed blad from ceiling fan
6. Broken chair from Zelda fishing
7. Hole in mother-in-law’s china cabinet
8. Four stitches in index finger
9. Black eye on girlfriend
10. Bruise on infant son’s head

I can’t wait until one of the detective shows like Monk incorporates a Wii-related accident into a murder.

For documentation on all Wii-related accidents, check out Wii Have A Problem.com.

Source: Gizmos for Geeks

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

Well, that was quick. Right after (OK, hours after) I wrote my last post, I get a call from Dell. And here, I have to applaud them. I promised the guy I wouldn’t post his name, cuz then he’d get tons of calls, but he is a Dell Resolution Representative (or something like that), and he works out of Texas, as opposed to the other people I spoke to. Here I got some real help.

He indicated to me that no, there is no Dell driver for the 1500 card. Yes, there is an “inbox” driver, but some people have had issues with it. He offered me either a beta driver, or even that same ABG card I already bought. When I told him I had already bought it, he offered a credit to my credit card. What more could I ask for? (Well, a working driver, but more on that later when it posts.)

We Say: Anyway, that was all great. He told me when the driver was expected to post (I’ll just say late March and leave it there) and gave me some great info … for example, although I had spoken to 3 different centers in two different countries, none of them were what he called “Dell Regulars”. Someone who was there when Dell support started. Many of the support staff, even those in the U.S., are outsourced. Those like the one I spoke to are few and far between. Which is why the title of this is “Quest for Dell.”

And that’s the difference. Speaking to him, I honestly felt like, despite the issues that Dell has had with support of late, there’s hope for Dell. Because, and this is a quote from him, he still hopes that “Maybe we will get back to where we were in the 90 ’s when we had no equal”. With an attitude like that, there might still be some hope.

P.S. Of course, I will still have to give more info on my upgrade to Vista … but that’s still to come …

By Kyle Reasons

Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Mac OS X
General

• cat

• Displays the contents of a file to the screen

• Changes to another directory

• Changes the group associated with one or more files to a different group

• Controls file security

• Changes file ownership

• Sets your login shell

• cmp

• Used to compare two files

• Copies a file to another directory

• Shows a report of how the disk space is used

• Backs up files

• Used to edit disk quotas associated with user accounts

• Formats and partitions a disk

• Displays the file type

More

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

As I previously wrote, I could not even START upgrading to Vista, because of a missing wi-fi driver. You may also recall that since I wanted to try Vista ASAP (call me anxious), I opted to buy the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Card, which has a driver on Dell’s website. I haven’t had a chance to try this card yet, as it just arrived this week, but … I did finally see an answer to a post I made on Dell’s Community Forum.

In that post, I was told by a Dell Liason that the drivers were native to Vista. OK … why did Vista Advisor not say that? She had a good explanation for that (later in the thread). OK … why did Tech Support not tell me that … no explanation for that.

However, also in that thread, a different user tried those “inbox” drivers … and he could not connect. Switching to a different card worked, so it wasn’t the network configuration. He also tried a Linksys WPC300N driver … and that worked.

We Say: So, as I said, I still haven’t tried this … most likely this weekend. But I do find it odd … disconcerting … upsetting? that tech support didn’t tell me the driver was “inbox”, though of course, at this point evidence indicates I would still have an issue. I’d try to return the new card, but there’s that restocking fee and of course shipping. In all fairness they should let me return it for a full refund (including shipping), because it was their bad info that made me buy it, but I don’t feel like spending another hour on the phone with “George” or “Sam” or whatever faux-named support person to get that satisfaction.

By Kyle Reasons
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

General

• at

• Runs a command or script at a given time

• Shows the jobs that are scheduled to run

• Used to remove a job that is scheduled to run

• Runs a command or script and is really a subset of the at command that takes you to the at>prompt if you type only batch

• Displays the contents of a file to the screen

• Changes to another directory

• Changes the group associated with one or more files to a different group

• Controls file security

• Changes file ownership

• Sets your login shell

• Used to compare two files

• Copies a file to another directory (and you can rename the file at the same time)

More