OK I found this to be interesting… Apparently there is a bug in Windows 7 that causes a 30 second startup delay when you opt to use a solid color background vs. a background image of any kind…

Now, I’ve never developed (or been a part of developing) an entire operating system, so I guess my point on this may be way off base, but does this bug make any sense at all? To me, from a programming perspective, no… not at all!

Supposedly there is a patch/workaround for it, though I haven’t tried any of it (I have Windows 7 at work, I may be tempted to test it out tomorrow just for the sake of verifying it first hand).
You can find info about the patch and workaround here: Lifehacker article.

Well apparently there is a new Firefox extension out there, but not one you or I would want. Unfortunally, if you use Windows (and install Windows updates/security patches) you have been or will likely fall victim to a dirty Microsoft Trick!

That’s right, with the latest “Security” patch to the .Net framework, Windows secretly installs an extension in Firefox. Worse yet they disable the uninstall button so you cannot remove it (at least not without hacking the registry, which could be dangerous if you mess it up). The new extension opens up vulnerabilities that were not previously there and allows easy access for new (and unwanted) software to be installed on your machine!

Here’s a link to read up the details: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2009/05/microsoft_update_quietly_insta.html
My guess is Microsoft is secretly trying to sabbotage Firefox and make it equally or perhaps more vulnerable to security threats as Internet Explorer, but I have no proof, yet.

Looks like this is a great time to consider trying Ubuntu!

I’ll put up a guide soon for how to remove this headache of a stealthy trojan extension when I next boot into Windows (no promise on how soon that will be).

Well I know I promised this a while ago, but I finally had time to complete the tutorial for installing the Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix. You can check out the guide here: http://alexsantidote.com/ubuntu/install-ubuntu-904-netbook-remix-dual-boot/

Let me know how it went for you in the comments here!

If you have any questions or run into any problems let me know, I’d be happy to help.

There’s a lot of media hype about the Conficker Worm going on right now…

Is it just hype? Is it legit? Should we be worried? Who knows! But we’ll all find out tomorrow… But then again, we may not.

This nasty worm was created by some crafty individual(s) and is designed to be mysterious. The only thing known for sure about Conficker is that there are at least 4 variants and they are all set to become active on April 1st, 2009.

So what can we do? Click here to read more…

You know that annoying little set of icons that appear on your taskbar near your clock every time you log into Windows? The one with the microphone and a box with a big question mark?

Simply right clicking and going to toolbars then unchecking “Language bar” will only temporarily cure this problem.

Well now you can kiss it goodbye!
Here’s how to remove this pesky tumor, permanently*!

• Access your Control Panel

            (Start Menu -> Control Panel OR

            (Start Menu ->) My Computer -> Control Panel)

• Click on “Regional and Language Options”

            A new window will open

• Click on the “Languages” Tab (near the top)
• Under the section “Text services and input languages” click on the “Details” Button

            A new window will pop open

• Near the bottom you will see a button called “Language Bar…” Click it.

            Another small window will pop open

• Uncheck “Show the language bar on the desktop”

            This prevents it from displaying automatically

            (unless you decide to use it again)

• Click “OK” (closes that window)
• Click “OK” again (closes another one)
• Finally Click “Apply” and then “OK” (closes the last window)

There you have it, the tumor has been removed!

*Now for the Chemotherapy to permanently prevent it from returning
This is simple, and if you prefer to, you can just do this from the start and save yourself from the hassle.

• Click “Start” then “Run”

            a window will open (the run prompt)

• Enter “Regsvr32.exe /u msutb.dll“
• Click “OK“

            The window will close and your problem is gone forever**!

msutb.dll is the key here. This command (note the /u) removes it from the registry so it cannot be accessed by the system.

**No wait, I Want it back!

• Click “Start” then “Run”

            a window will open (the run prompt)

• Enter “Regsvr32.exe msutb.dll“
• Click “OK“

            The window will close and your Language Bar is back!

again msutb.dll is the key to this, Regsvr32.exe will add msutb.dll back to the registry so it may be accessed by the system.