Google Unseats Apple In U.S. Classrooms As Chromebooks Beat iPads

 

As of the third quarter of 2014, Chromebooks have displaced iPads as the most popular new devices shipping to U.S. schools. This is a huge win for Google in a market historically dominated by Apple and Microsoft. According to the Financial Times  and IDC, “Google shipped 715,500 of the low-cost laptops into US schools in the third quarter, compared with 702,000 iPads.” Even more striking, the $199 and up Chromebooks have gone from zero to a quarter of the educational market in only two years.The iPad is the fastest-growing product in Apple’s history, but that growth is clearly slowing. As recently as a year ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook claimed that “iPads make up 94 percent of the market for education tablets.” As impressive as this is, this statistic obscures the fact that tablets have not been as useful in the educational setting as promised. While Apple has been pumping iPads into schools, Google has gotten many of the same schools hooked on its free Google Apps for Education Suite.Once students and teachers are used to working in the cloud, Chromebooks make a lot of sense. Microsoft is just now getting to the same level of functionality with its Office 365 service—but it’s free for the students, not for the school. Apple’s own productivity apps, Pages and Numbers, have had less traction than both the Google and Microsoft equivalents. In April, Cook complained that Microsoft’s delay in releasing Office for the iPad was partially responsible for the slowdown in sales.

google-chromebook

The $199 price point also makes the Chromebooks attractive to schools compared to $379 for a 2013 iPad Air (after educational discounts.) Microsoft is trying to compete with the $199 Stream netbook manufactured by HP. This is a step in the right direction, as are the Surface tablets with their snap on keyboards.

The lack of an integrated keyboard in the iPad makes it less and less useful as children get older and need to be able to type for longer periods of time. This also points to a larger issue concerning tablets as educational devices. Despite improvements in this regard, tablets in general and the iPad in particular are loved as media consumption devices first and productivity devices second. Apple’s aggressive pairing of its devices with the iTunes Store has turned many school iPad programs into wholesale promotion of gaming to children.

As someone on the parent side of this equation I can confirm that many students do not appear to be making use of the awesome computation power of these devices. Instead, they are primarily used for gaming, video watching and social media with the occasional Google doc or sheet thrown in. Having entertainment so close at hand in an educational setting is counterproductive to the development of focus and concentration.

I discussed this with Daniel Goleman last week at the Learning & the Brain Conference in Boston. His new book Focus, The Hidden Driver of Excellence, and indeed the entire conference, serve as a rebuke to the novelty seeking that the iPad inspires in students. The tablet itself could have been neutral in education, but Apple has marketed the iPad as a pleasurable device more than a useful one, and that association has stuck even in school classrooms.

It’s not that Google is all-business, but its Chromebooks do not have the same baggage of association with fun and games as the iPad and hence may be better suited to getting kids to concentrate on the task at hand. The Chrome Web Store has games, yes, but they are nowhere as prominent as on the Apple App Store. It would be easy to make Google’s win in the classroom be purely about money. Free apps and cheap netbooks are certainly appealing to embattled school districts. But I am suggesting that there may be more to it than that. Google’s emphasis on utility and data may be more in sync with the needs of students today than Apple’s promises of creative individuality and fun. Get to work, kids!

 

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Beginning of the end for Windows 7

Microsoft is warning customers that the end is soon coming for free Windows 7 support. Microsoft will end free mainstream support for Windows 7 on January 13, 2015.

 

This covers all versions of Windows .

The end of support generally means no more updated features or performance improvements, unless you are covered by extra “extended support.”

UPDATED: Microsoft has promised to provide security patches even after it ends mainstream support, through 2020. What is ending is design changes, warranty claims and no-charge incident support.

This move will mostly affect consumers. Businesses get extended support and will get all updates for another five years, until January 14, 2020.

That’s important, because many businesses are right now are in the process of upgrading their old Windows XP PCs, but they’re moving to Windows 7, not Windows 8.

There’s some speculation that, given the popularity of Windows 7, Microsoft might change its mind as the date nears and continue to support it a bit longer, like it did for Windows XP. All told, Microsoft supported XP for about 13 years.

That kind of extension doesn’t seem likely at this point. Remember, Windows 8 basically includes a full version of Windows 7, called Desktop mode. With Windows 8.1, it’s possible to run a Windows 8 machine in Desktop mode and almost avoid the new-and-confusing Windows 8 part of the OS.

And Microsoft really needs to nudge consumers into buying Windows 8 machines. More Windows 8 machines means more developers will want to write software for Windows 8, which will make more people want to buy it.

By the way, Microsoft also set an end-of-life of mainstream support for Windows 8 (including the latest version, Windows 8.1), for January 9, 2018.

This is another hint that Microsoft should have its next version of Windows ready in 2015, code-named “Threshold” (sometimes referred to as Windows 9).

If Microsoft plays its cards right, Windows 9 will be to the unloved Windows 8 what Windows 7 was to Vista.

Here’s the chart from Microsoft’s Lifecycle Support page.

Windows support chart

 

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ThinkPad Yoga, Tablet/Laptop Crossover.

ThinkPad Yoga Features

Lenovo laptop ThinkPad Yoga
Four Awesome Modes. One Incredible Device.

Easily change between four modes — Laptop, Stand, Tablet, and Tent — while your system automatically switches system settings and locks the keyboard in place. The secret: ThinkPad Yoga’s unique design and touchscreen display allows the screen to flip around 360 degrees, which means you can select the mode you use based on what you choose to do.

Ultraportable for Easy Mobility

Starting at a mere 3.5 lbs and just 0.75″ thick, the ThinkPad Yoga is ultraportable — it’s perfect for doers on the go.

Industry-Leading Multimode Keyboard

Pioneering ultrabooks need pioneering keyboards — and the ThinkPad Yoga’s innovative lift-and-lock keyboard fits the bill. When your Yoga switches between modes, the keyboard frame automatically rises and the keys lock, eliminating accidental keystrokes and providing a more comfortable grip.

Massive Storage Options

With up to 256GB SSD storage, the ThinkPad Yoga has plenty of space for all of your important files, videos, photos, and presentations. And the Lenovo Performance Booster enhances performance by up to five times.

Rock-Solid Durability

The ThinkPad Yoga’s durable magnesium-alloy frame and heavy-duty, scratch- and smudge-resistant Corning® Gorilla® Glass display means it can handle tough treatment from even the hardiest road warrior.

Digitizer Pen Support

Select models include a digitizer pen to maximize productivity on your ThinkPad Yoga. In all four modes, the digitizer pen provides a natural, fluid, writing experience and lets you take notes, sign documents, annotate PDFs, and more.

Long Battery Life

The ThinkPad Yoga lets you stay productive over the long haul. With up to 8 hours of battery life — and a 30-day standby — you can go all day without recharging.

10-Point Multitouch Display

Interact with your ThinkPad Yoga by using simple, intuitive gestures directly on the 12.5″ FHD 10-point multitouch display — optimized for Windows 8. Its advanced multitouch technology provides a superior touch experience, greater responsiveness, and faster response times.

Instant Resume

Stay productive by picking up where you left off in an instant. The ThinkPad Yoga wakes from sleep mode in less than 2 seconds and from hibernation in less than 7 seconds.

Robust Hard-Drive Protection

Enjoy peace of mind knowing that your data is protected. The ThinkPad Yoga’s Active Protection System locks and protects your HDD when it detects sudden movements — it’s like having an airbag for your hard drive.

Laptop, Stand, Tablet, and Tent Modes
Lenovo laptop ThinkPad Yoga
Optional Digitizer Pen Support
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Microsoft acknowledges “in the wild” Internet Explorer zero-day

Microsoft has published a security advisory of the heart-dropping sort.

An “in the wild” exploit has been spotted that can cause RCE, or remote code execution, in Internet Explorer.

RCE means a drive-by install, where simply looking at booby-trapped content such as a web page or image file can trick IE into launching executable code sent from outside your network.

There won’t be any obvious warning signs, or “Danger, Will Robinson!” dialog boxes.

So, armed with an RCE exploit, a crook may be able to sneak malware onto your computer even if you don’t take any obvious risks such as opening a suspicious attachment or agreeing to download a dubious-sounding file.

That’s the worst-case scenario we’re looking at here.

Details of the new exploit are scarce, but Microsoft admits that all IE versions, from 6 to 11 inclusive, contain the buggy code.

What to do?

There is no patch yet [2014-04-27T21:20Z], so a simple trip to Windows Update won’t help.

But the good news is that the attacks seen in the wild so far seem to have relied on hitting IE 9, 10 and 11, using Adobe Flash as a lever.

Note that the bug isn’t in Flash, so this is not something Adobe can fix, nor its it Adobe’s fault.

It’s just that using specially crafted Flash files can help attackers prepare the contents of the memory on your computer in order to make a successful attack possible.

That means you can turn off what Microsoft calls Active Scripting in your browser (or set IE to prompt you before Active Scripts like Flash run), and increase your resilience against this latest attack.

Here’s the click-sequence to get you to the right place:

Internet Explorer
  Tools
    Internet Options
      Security (➊ below)
        Custom Level (➋ below)
          Settings - Scripting 
            Active Scripting (➌ below)

Also, according to Microsoft, you can stop this attack by telling Windows to turn off an Internet Explorer extension called VGX.DLL.

The file VGX.DLL (a DLL is just a special sort of executable file) provides support for VML (Vector Markup Language), and vector graphics rendering, in IE.

So it sounds as though this vulnerability is somewhere in the VGX code.

→ Microsoft sent an email to state that unregistering VGX.DLL inhibits the attacks seen so far, rather than preventing all possible CVE-2014-1776 exploits. The bug is not, apparently, in VGX.DLL itself. (Updated 2014-04-29T22:25Z)

If you can live without VML, and you’re comfortable with a command line, Microsoft suggests that the simple hack shown below will mitigate the risk of this exploit.

You can enter the command into the Start | Run window or at a command prompt:

"%SystemRoot%\System32\regsvr32.exe" -u 
   "%CommonProgramFiles%\Microsoft Shared\VGX\vgx.dll"

Once a patch is out for what we’ll assume will become known as “the VML bug,” officially dubbed CVE-2014-1776, you can always re-enable VGX.DLL, like this:

"%SystemRoot%\System32\regsvr32.exe" 
   "%CommonProgramFiles%\Microsoft Shared\VGX\vgx.dll"

(You’ll need to have Administrator privilege to re-register the VGX DLL with the system.)

What if I have XP?

Unregister the VGX.DLL file as shown above.

Never re-register it.

Listen to our “End of XP” podcast.


(Audio player above not working for you? Download to listen offline, or listen on Soundcloud.)

 

 

by Paul Ducklin on April 27, 2014

Filed Under: Featured, Malware, Microsoft, Security threats, Vulnerability

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Stop Using Safari And Update iOS To Avoid Apple’s Critical ‘Gotofail’ Security Bug

On Friday, Apple AAPL -1.11% issued one major security fix. Unfortunately, that’s one fix fewer than it needs to solve a major flaw in how its software protects users’ Internet connections.

Researchers at the security firm Crowdstrike and elsewhere who reverse engineered Apple’s security update say that it reveals a security flaw not only in Apple’s iOS mobile operating system, but also in its desktop OSX software, despite the company’s only releasing a security update for mobile users. The vulnerability, nicknamed “gotofail” by researchers after a flawed “goto” command in Apple’s code that skips an authentication step, allows an attacker who controls any network to which a device connects to hijack their traffic and redirect or modify it, and may have persisted in Apple’s devices for months before being discovered.

“This enables an adversary to masquerade as coming from a trusted remote endpoint, such as your favorite webmail provider and perform full interception of encrypted traffic between you and the destination server,” write Crowdstrike’s researchers. The bug also “give[s] them a capability to modify the data in flight (such as deliver exploits to take control of your system).”

Researchers are warning that the flaw seems to affect Safari, rather than Chrome or Firefox, so switching browsers may offer a partial workaround for the vulnerability. I tested several browsers against a proof-of-concept demonstration of the bug recommended by several security researchers at gotofail.com and found that Safari was in fact vulnerable to the attack, while Chrome and Firefox appeared to be unaffected. But the test shouldn’t be seen as definitive, and the impact of the flaw goes beyond browsers. Security researcher Ashkan Soltani has found that it may affect Apple’s Mail application as well, according to Ars Technica.

The flaw allows communications to be so effectively eavesdropped or corrupted that some in the security community are speculating that it may have been a purposeful backdoor implanted to offer access to the NSA or others. But Google security staffer Adam Langley writes in his in-depth analysis of the bug that it’s more likely an unfortunate accident.  ”This sort of subtle bug deep in the code is a nightmare,” he writes. “I believe that it’s just a mistake and I feel very bad for whomever might have slipped in an editor and created it.”

I’ve contacted Apple for comment, and I’ll update this post as soon as I hear from them. The company tells Reuters that it plans to release a second patch for OSX “very soon.” In the meantime, German security firm Sektion Eins has released its own patch for the flaw, though like any unofficial patch it’s not clear how effective it may be in solving the issue or what other side effects it may incur for users.

Until Apple releases a patch of its own, users should update their iOS devices to the latest version, uses Chrome and Firefox rather than Safari, and try to avoid untrusted networks.

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A Microsoft Surface Is More Popular In The 9-5 Business Battle Than An iPad Or Android Tablet

While Microsoft’s Surface tablets are getting more use per device in the business world, their share of the market is still incredibly low. Recent numbers from Chita show both the scale of the problem that Microsoft has to address, but also illustrate the strength of Redmond’s own hardware.

The peak time for tablet usage in North America peaks at 9pm Eastern. The three major tablet platforms (Apple’s iPad, the Microsoft Surface, and the generic ‘Android tablet’ catch all) have a similar usage pattern, with web traffic volumes highest in the evening. During the working day (primarily noon till 5pm) tablets are consuming around 60% of that peak traffic.

The interesting point here is that while the ‘shape’ of usage is broadly the same, a Microsoft Surface is used proportionally more during working hours, an iPad is used more during the morning commute, while an Android tablets become the top performing device later in the evening.

That says to me that the primary use case of each breed of tablet as a whole is broadly similar, although each family has their own strength. For Apple it’s on the move and helping people through the commute, for Android it looks to be use by the night owls, and Microsoft has parlayed their traditional enterprise strength to the Surface.

Of course there are some caveats here. Surveys such as Chitika’s can show broad intentions of a group, but individual cases are not as easily highlighted. The survey is also based on data gathered from mobile ad impressions which will skew the results, and if you take the volume of devices into account, Apple’s iPad generates five times the ad impressions of Android, while the Surface’s share of the ad impressions doesn’t even break five percent.

Highlighting the Surface numbers, it’s clear that Microsoft’s targeting of the device as a business and enterprise machine has been successful. Now they need to work on the volume of sales.

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End of Life XP and Office 2003

 

 

900 Greenbank RD, Suite 404

Ottawa, On K2J 4P6

P- 613-853-5334 F- 613-702-3482

www.jacksonnetworks.ca

 

 

Welcome to 2014.  This will be a year of change.  As computer security is forever changing, this year Microsoft is removing some of its most popular software from its supported list.  Please read and ensure you are protected and ready for some new changes!

 

                                                                                     

 

April 2014 is the end of an era!  Windows XP and Office 2003 will no longer be supported by Microsoft and any more Patches, Updates, New Drivers and Security Updates will not be written.  It is time to move forward into Windows 7 and Windows 8.  Server 2003 is still OK but we should also look towards Server 2008R2 and Server 2012R2.  If you use Office and are older than Office 2007 this will also be affected. 

 

It is important to stay up to date as there are security implications with older software. 

 

We can help with the migration from XP to Windows 7 or 8.  We sell New and Refurbished PC to fit your needs.  All will come with Windows 7 Pro or Windows 8.  We recommend Windows 7 for business users. 

                                                                           

We also recommend Office 2013 Home and Business and Adobe Acrobat XI for those users needing updates versions. 

 

Jackson Network recommends Dell, Lenovo, HP hardware.  If you have a preference let us know. 

                                 

                                                                                                 

 

Jackson Networks recommends Sophos antivirus for your security needs.  Ensure you are protected to lower your cost of ownership of your PC’s

 

Remember to back up your PC’s and Servers.  Don’t know how?  We can help.

 

Let us help you with all your computer needs!  Call or email us to book your appointment!

 

Kevin

President of Jackson Networks

kevin@jacksonnetworks.ca  – 613-853-5334

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Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 Support Ends April 8th, 2014

WHY?

Why is Microsoft ending support for Windows XP and Office 2003?

In 2002 Microsoft introduced its Support Lifecycle policy based on customer feedback to have more transparency and predictability of support for Microsoft products. As per this policy, Microsoft Business and Developer products, including Windows and Office products, receive a minimum of 10 years of support (5 years Mainstream Support and 5 years Extended Support), at the supported service pack level.

Thus, Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 will go out of support on April 8, 2014. If your organization has not started the migration to a modern desktop, you are late. Based on historical customer deployment data, the average enterprise deployment can take 18 to 32 months from business case through full deployment. To ensure you remain on supported versions of Windows and Office, you should begin your planning and application testing immediately to ensure you deploy before end of support.

Resources

What does end of support mean for my home PC?

Learn about other companies have benefitted from migrating to Windows 7 and Windows 8 Enterprise.

Next: What does end of support mean to customers?

 

WHAT?

What does end of support mean to customers?

It means you should take action. After April 8, 2014, there will be no new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options or online technical content updates.

Running Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 in your environment after their end of support date may expose your company to potential risks, such as:

  • Security & Compliance Risks: Unsupported and unpatched environments are vulnerable to security risks. This may result in an officially recognized control failure by an internal or external audit body, leading to suspension of certifications, and/or public notification of the organization’s inability to maintain its systems and customer information.
  • Lack of Independent Software Vendor (ISV) & Hardware Manufacturers support: A recent industry report from Gartner Research suggests “many independent software vendors (ISVs) are unlikely to support new versions of applications on Windows XP in 2011; in 2012, it will become common.” And it may stifle access to hardware innovation: Gartner Research further notes that in 2012, most PC hardware manufacturers will stop supporting Windows XP on the majority of their new PC models.

Get current with Windows and Office. This option has upside well beyond keeping you supported. It offers more flexibility to empower employees to be more productive, while increasing operational efficiency through improved PC security and management. It also enables your organization to take advantage of latest technology trends such as virtualization and the cloud.

Resources

What does end of support mean for my home PC?

Download the free Microsoft Deployment Toolkit.

Visit the Springboard Series on TechNet for additional technical guidance.

Next: How do I begin my migration?

 

HOW?

How do I begin my migration?

Enterprise Customers: Microsoft offers large organizations in-depth technical resources, tools, and expert guidance to ease the deployment and management of Windows, Office and Internet Explorer products and technologies. To learn more about migration and deployment programs, please contact your Microsoft sales representative or Certified Microsoft Partner. Learn how to pilot and deploy a modern desktop yourself, download the free Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and begin your deployment today.

Small to Medium Business: There are many options for small and medium businesses considering moving to a modern PC with the latest productivity and collaboration tools. Small to mid-size organizations should locate a Microsoft Certified Partner to understand the best options to meet their business needs. If your current PC meets the system requirements for Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, you can buy Windows 7 Professional or Windows 8.1 Pro from a local retailer or Microsoft Certified Partner. If your PC does not meet system requirements, consider purchasing a new business PC with Windows 8.1 Pro.

Resources

What does end of support mean for my home PC?

Download the free Microsoft Deployment Toolkit.

Get technical resources, free tools and expert guidance for Internet Explorer.

Visit the Springboard Series on TechNet for additional technical guidance.

Check out the latest recommended Windows devices.

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Buggy Webcams, IP Cameras and Baby Monitors Reveal Too Much to Anyone

By: |  January 24, 2014

Some models of webcams, IP surveillance cameras and baby monitors from Chinese manufacturer Foscam have vulnerable firmware that permits anyone with access to the device’s Internet address to catch live streaming and even record videos.

Camera experts reported on the company’s support portal that many Foscam cameras can too easily be accessed by unauthorized persons with only the device’s Internet address at hand. They only need to hit “OK” in the dialog box that requires username and password, without having to fill in the log in data too, as long as the browser was not completely shut down after use.

The vulnerability is present in .54 version MJPEG cameras, models FI8904W, FI8905E, FI8905W, FI8906W, FI8907W, FI8909W, FI8910E, FI8910W, FI8916W, FI8918W, and FI8919W. The company announced an update version of the latest version of firmware- .55 – to be published on the company’s website by 25th of January.

Don Kennedy, a diligent member of the Foscam support forum posted a workaround for the bug to help users until Foscam issues the official fix. Kennedy warned users that this temporary patch can have a downside in that too many attempts to log in without credentials can make the camera freeze. Plus the .55 firmware update will not solve the freeze issue.

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The importance of backing up your data!

 

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Every hard drive you own will eventually fail. That sounds harsh, but if you have a hard drive, it will, eventually, without a doubt, at some point, just stop working. Even if you have complete faith in your choice of hard drives, you’re still putting yourself at risk in the case of a fire or natural disaster. And if you don’t have a backup plan, you’ll lose all of your data. All of it.

Want an option? Well we’ve got quite a few that you can try for yourself, so let’s take a look.

Option 1: Hourly local backup

There are lots of different kinds of backup out there, but one of the more up-to-date options that you have is an hourly backup. If you own a Mac that’s running at least 10.5 Leopard, you have access to Time Machine, Apple’s solution for hourly backup. Just plug in a USB hard drive, point Time Machine that direction and you’re good to go. On Windows 7 or later, you can setup Backup and Restore from Control Panel to hourly, and you’ll get the same result.

I had a hard drive fail on me once, and that was the last time.

The upside to this option is that if your hard drive ever goes south, the oldest backup you’ll have is an hour. However, this backup is local only, and that means that if your house or office catches on fire, you’re out of luck.

Note: Backup your accounting software with the built in tool onto your Hard drive or Flash drive after you finish working on it!  Some databases restore better from the tool then overwriting a database!

Option 2: Weekly local backup

At my house, we do a weekly backup on all of our machines. Every Saturday night around 2am or so, our computers spin to life and the hard drives are completely cloned. This gives us a bootable copy of our hard drives, so we can plug them into any other machine and boot directly from the drive. In addition, we can keep them in a fireproof safe during the week, which means that we’re covered in a fire — unless, of course, it happens Saturday night.

Having a bootable backup is pretty awesome, but it can’t be your only option. If your hard drive died, you could lose several days worth of data. Just something to consider.

Option 3: Online backup

There are lots of options out there for online backup, including KineticD. In our house, we use KineticD.

If you ever need to restore your data, it will be limited to the speed of your Internet connection. Although KineticD does offer a service to send you a hard drive with your data, there is shipping time to factor in, which could be an issue.

Option 4: All three

By having hourly, weekly and online backup, you’re pretty locked up.

I had a hard drive fail on me once, and that was the last time. Since then, we’ve implemented all three options on our main computers. Not only are they all backed up via Windows Backup and Restore (we’re a Microsoft home), but we also use KineticD as well. One of our machines is cloned weekly too, which works pretty well for us.

Ultimately, the best backup plan is one that has many layers of redundancy. By having hourly, weekly and online backup, you’re pretty locked up. That’s not to say you’re totally safe, but it’s better than nothing.

The bonus option: Dropbox, Box and RAID

Of course, there is one other thing that we do here at my house, and that’s Dropbox. Although it’s not strictly a backup system, Dropbox (and its competitor, Box), are file storage systems that are backed up to the cloud. The way I use it, I keep most of my important files on Dropbox. If I ever need a file, or I want to setup a new computer, I just open up Dropbox and I can do what I’ve got to do. In addition, since Dropbox is held locally on my machine, it’s also backed up hourly, weekly and online.

RAID (redundant array of independent disks, originally redundant array of inexpensive disks) is a storage technology that combines multiple disk drive components into a logical unit for the purposes of data redundancy and performance improvement. Data is distributed across the drives in one of several ways, referred to as RAID levels, depending on the specific level of redundancy and performance required. This means you can set up your computer with multiple drives and if a drive was to fail the others would hold your data.

So, how do you backup?

So what do you do with your computer(s)? How do you backup your machines? Let us know in the comments below!

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