Category Archives: Software

Norton Internet Security 2009

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The Norton Internet Security Suite comprises all the features of Norton Antivirus with more features to protect users from threats on the internet like phishing websites, Key Loggers, etc.

The look of the Norton Internet Security sports a very modern simplistic look. There are three quick access menus for Computer, Internet and Identity which are displayed when you open the program. There are also usage meters displayed on the main screen; One for CPU usage and the other for the usage of Norton Internet Security application.

Norton Internet Security integrates into your browser as a toolbar. Firefox and Internet Explorer have toolbars, but opera isn’t supported. The toolbar gives quick access notifications for anti-phishing and also keeps security information like logins and passwords as profiles. Norton Internet Security allows users to securely store usernames and passwords as well as create identity cards which help users in quick filling of online forms.

The earlier versions of Norton Antivirus and Norton Internet Security used to use up a lot of resources which causing the PC to slow down when idle as well as during a system scan. But the Norton Internet Security 2009 has stepped up and is quite efficient when it come to resources. It used maximum of 20MB of RAM when we first installed it and while running a system scan it used about 10MB of RAM. This is definitely an improvement, as in the past the major problem with Norton was of users complaining of the amount of resources used when the antivirus was running.

Considering the All-In-One package that the Norton Internet Security offers – Antivirus, Antispyware, Phishing Filters for Internet Safety and even good performance, its a bit on the expensive side at $49 for Oner Year Single User and hence we would not recommend it as there are others out there that are cheaper. Even so, if you are a Norton user and trust no other antivirus software then this is a great bundle for you.

Requirements:
Microsoft Windows XP/Vista
300 MHz or Faster Processor
256 MB of RAM
200 MB of Available Hard Disk Space
Standard Web Browser (Firefox or Internet Explorer)

Popularity: 19% [?]

Microsoft confesses to posting a flawed update

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Microsoft Corp. re-released one of its Aug. 11 security updates yesterday, explaining that it had posted an incomplete version to its own download center last week.

The admission was the third time in the past two months that Microsoft has had to re-issue a security-related update.

Users who manually downloaded MS08-051 since Aug. 12 to patch Office 2003 should obtain the second version as soon as possible, Microsoft said. People who obtained the update via Windows Update or through their company’s Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server, or who updated other versions of Office, do not need to reinstall MS08-051.

That update patched three vulnerabilities in PowerPoint, the presentation maker included with Microsoft Office, including one that Microsoft labeled “critical,” its highest ranking. MS08-051 was one of 11 security bulletins released last week that patched 26 bugs, the most Microsoft has tackled in a single month for the last year and a half.

According to the revised bulletin published Thursday, the PowerPoint 2003 patches originally posted to Microsoft’s Download Center were the wrong versions. “While these versions did protect against the vulnerabilities discussed in the bulletin, they lacked other important security and reliability updates,” Microsoft said in the revamped MS08-051.

The company said it had posted the correct versions to Windows Update and Office Update from the start. “This only affected the packages on the Microsoft Download Center; Microsoft Update and Office Update contained and were distributing the correct versions of the binaries and did not need to be updated.”

Anyone who updated PowerPoint in Office 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Office 2003 SP3 by grabbing the update from elsewhere ; in other words, directly from Microsoft’s download site — must reinstall the second edition of the patches, either by downloading the revised bits from Download Center or through Windows Update/Office Update.

Microsoft gave a third option to users unable to immediately replace the flawed patches. “If you choose to not reinstall the update, you must manually set the registry key in order to block PowerPoint file types as a workaround,” Microsoft advised.

Second tries of security updates have become commonplace of late for the Redmond, Wash., software maker. In June, Microsoft, citing unspecified “human issues,” was forced to re-release a fix for a flaw in Windows’ implementation of Bluetooth, the short-range wireless protocol. And just last week, it re-issued a July patch for a bug that had prevented some network administrators from using the WSUS patch-management tool to deploy security updates.

Microsoft was unavailable for comment.

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Popularity: 33% [?]

Army of Two : The Game People Play

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EA Games Army of Two

Introduction
Army of two is an in style video game developed by the giant ElectronicArts Corporation, Montreal. It was released in the market with the compatible version of Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on 4th March, 2008 in North America. Army of Two is also popularly known as Ao2 or AoT. It is a third person shooting video game that revolves around two private military organizations who hire top level mercenaries to complete the job more efficiently and faster than the government military organizations. The time span of the story is from 1993 to 2009.
Army of Two is a collective third person shooting video game with a plan on cooperative and matched strategies. The theme of the game is somewhat similar to ‘Gears of War’. The players will start with the game’s integrated ‘Partner Artificial Intelligence’ or with the other players to fight through political commotion, war and a conspiracy so cleverly and accurately placed that it can destroy the entire world. The characters of Army of Two are popular as they work just like human beings.
The story
The story of the game starts in Somalia during 1993 once Tyson Rios and Elliot Salem were working in the 75th Ranger Regiment of US Military. They were put to a short training lesson, the course headed by their comrade Pedro. After that, they were consigned to work with Philip Clyde, who is a private military contractor. The name of his company is Security and Strategy Corporation (SSC). SSC orders the team to assassinate Abdullah Mohammed Alim. When this mission is complete, the SSC CEO Ernest Stockwell orders Philip Clyde to invite commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment Lieutenant Colonel Richard Dalton to join the private security company for a desk job, which he agrees. Afterwards, he requests Ernest Stockwell to include Salem and Rios to be included in the company as contractors. During the next year, three of them enter the private sector. The spicy conversation between these comrades is added taste of this game. You Testfreaks are to figure it out.
After that, the story revolves around almost throughout the world including Afghanistan, Iraq, USS Constellation, China and Miami.
The controls and Gameplay
The gameplay is fairly smooth. The weapon customization is the best part of AoT. The choice is intensive. The arms that are available for customization are shotguns, pistols, submachine guns, light machine guns, rocket launchers, grenade launchers, sniper rifles and assault rifles. Some equipments like under-slung grenade launchers, extra-large magazines, grip handles and new barrels can be substituted to give the armor a new look and function. The players can upgrade their armor as the game progresses by purchasing from the market. But one has to be careful while purchasing as the team who finishes the game with more amounts of cash wins the game. The face masks can also be tailored with the main characters of the play.
Earlier, a firing range for the newly obtained arms was available. But due to the lack of standards, it was removed from the later versions.
Graphics
ElectronicArts used the popular graphics formula – the UE3. The character mode is top class, even during the cut scenes (which cause problem mainly in the other games). EA did not pay attention to the textures as like other games. Sometimes, it looks like a PS1 game. The appearance of water during the 5th mission is pathetic.
Overall rating
Army of Two is good but not at par with the best programs available in the market as per my opinion. Consider to borrow it from some of your friends or from the parlor. Test is yourself and then consider for the purchasing. The FreakScore is 8.00.

Popularity: 15% [?]