Microsoft has (some time ago actually) released a utility (or security addon if you wish) for Windows XP called Steadystate;
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/default.mspx
What is does is basically to add very strict control to your desktop and to allow for guest or kiosk pc’s.
Lets say you administer a library pc, and daily have to deal with users changing settings downloading strange software/malware and basically just giving you a hard time. Well with Steadystate you can inflict strict rules on what a user can and can not do, you can add time-limits for usage and finnaly (and this is the neat part) you can have the computer restore to a predefined setup at fixed intervals (or at every boot/logoff if you prefer).
In a corporate domain setup the software does not seem that interesting as many of the settings can be set via GPO’s, but for kiosk pc’s it’s neat. And as the author of a commercial predecessor I should know 😉 www.security-setup.dk did basically the same thing just not in the same dept and detail.
If you have a kiosk pc environment, hared pc’s or your kids just keep messing their installations up this may be worth a look. and the final good news, ITS FREE!!
As you may know, Google have for a long time had a translation service (equal to the Babelfish service on Altavista.com), the new thing is that it now offer translation to and from Danish also… It is even capable of dealing with the famous sentence “Rødgrød med fløde!” (a Danish sentence that is almost impossible to pronounce if you are not Danish) well sort of in English the translation reads “Rødgrød with cream!” but hey its close 🙂
Kan man det (which is what this site is called www.readmydamnblog.com) become “Can it”, hmmm not quite that close but hey it is a step in the right direction..
For a few cheap laughs go to;
http://www.google.com/translate
JEROME J. NIEDERMEIER, United States Magistrate Judge. has ruled in favour of the defendant in a case of a subpoenaed Password for a laptop.
The case concerned a computer user which laptop was ceased during a border-crossing, the laptop allegedly contained child porn but was encrypted using PGP, a grand jury had subpoenaed the defendant to turn over the password but the defendant denied and claimed the “Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination!”. This was later backed up by “JEROME J. NIEDERMEIER, United States Magistrate Judge”.
I do in no way condone any possession or usage of child pornography, but even though I am pleased with the ruling – as it in my world is a victory for personal privacy. The issue is today of little relevance, as it could be avoided using Truecrypt with a hidden secret partition (a hidden encrypted partition within a regular encrypted partition – refer to Truecrypt.org for further details).
Links;
http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9834495-38.html
http://www.volokh.com/files/Boucher.pdf