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Friday humour: the guy the virus writers count on

Flash to a conversation overheard in a checkout line: when one person asks another why they hadn’t responded to an email, the resopnse comes: “there was an attachment in your last email, and I heard that attachments could be bad… so I didn’t open it.”


That reminded me of a past cartoon…



You really do have to be careful these days: I regularly receive emails with small .zip or .jpg attachments that no doubt hold all sorts of nasty goodies. Don’t open attachments unless you really know (and can confirm!) who they came from and what the attachments are.


As Stephen Sinofsky said in this discussion on the impact of “I Love You” virus that infected computers worldwide in 2000…



“Always make sure you have anti-virus software running and that it is up to date. Ensure you have the latest product updates… You should also practice safe computing practices, such as being very careful when opening email attachments.”


More info:



(BTW, the cartoon is by the talented Cam Cardow of The Ottawa Citizen.)


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News & Link: T-Mobile Dash coming Oct. 25

As noted earlier in the week, the new T-Mobile Dash Smartphone is coming soon. This info is in the official Dash press release:



The T-Mobile Dash will be available exclusively to T-Mobile customers beginning Oct. 25 at T-Mobile retail stores and online at www.t-mobile.com. Prior to retail availability, customers can learn more about the T-Mobile Dash at www.t-mobileregistration.com/dash.

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Article: Seattle PI reports on the Changes in COSD

The Seattle PI reported today that “Microsoft Corp. announced plans Thursday to reshape the internal structure of its Windows engineering division…” known as the Windows Core Operating System Division (aka COSD), which Jon DeVaan leads.



“Microsoft said the changes announced for the Windows Core Operating System Division will take effect after Vista’s release, applying to work on future versions. They’re designed, in part, to streamline the division and make it more flexible. Microsoft said the changes won’t involve layoffs.


“It’s part of a broader revamp of Windows development efforts. Earlier this year, Microsoft brought in Steven Sinofsky, a Microsoft Office executive known for getting teams to meet deadlines, as the senior vice president for the Windows and Windows Live engineering group.


“The latest changes include the creation of a new team inside the Core Operating System Division that will “focus on a single, integrated development plan for Windows,” the company said.


A couple of the changes noted in the article include…



  • the move to combine our Security, Trustworthy Computing (TwC) and Engineering Excellence teams (which operate across the company) into a single group within COSD, led by Scott Charney (he’s led the TwC group),

  • and the venerable Jawad Khaki will manage a new group in COSD that works with hardware makers.

Good moves as these and the rest of Jon’s technical executives are focused on the needs of our customers (end users) and partners (IHVs, OEMs, manufacturers, service providers). Jon DeVaan is one of the best listeners, continually supports our efforts to improve customer and partner satisfaction across the company, and is particularly good at finding ways to bridge the communications gap that sometimes happens (even within the company). I’ll ask if he can make some time for a chat on TechNet.


And Scoble sat down with Jawad this summer and the interview is here on Channel9, and see this community/chat transcript on Technet. Jawad is great with customers and has forged some deep relationships with key manufacturers in the industry.

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Windows Vista RC2 public download closed

Techweb ran an article on how the public, free Vista RC2 download was closed. “As promised, Microsoft opened its newest build of Windows Vista to public downloading, but the short time that Release Candidate 2 (RC2) was available irked left-out users.”


The team noted on their blog that RC2 download was closed, and had apologies for those unable to get to the download. Said Nick:



“As you’ve probably already surmised, downloads of Windows Vista RC2 for the Customer Preview Program (CPP) have now closed and the links are no longer active.  We were bowled over by your response to RC2 — in fact, we hit our download target (200K+) within 72 hours of propping the files! This is an incredible response.


“Special thanks go out to everyone who participated in the CPP by downloading and installing this new build, and please keep the feedback coming — it makes a huge difference.”


Happy to see that the team is o responsive on their blogs. Very transparent to let customers know that we hit the targeted number of downloads, closing the program so that the team can process the customer feedback that comes in.


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Just released: New T-Mobile Dash Smartphone

T-Mobile Dash SmartphoneMSNBC has a quick review quick review from Gary Krakow on T-Mobile’s new Dash phone, a slick smartphone Krakow calls a “slick, new design… best-of-breed for Windows Mobile devices.” It’s so new that the phone is not yet on the T-Mobile site or on their press page. (Update 101306: The T-Mobile Dash press release is now available here.)


Says Krakow:


“The phone performed every task I asked it to do without any problem — a big deal for today’s, feature-laden smartphones. I have yet to find a program that makes the Dash trip up or miss a beat.


“It has handled all my remote e-mail, Web browsing and even some photography and music-listening duty with aplomb. The Dash is one of the best smartphones I’ve tested to date and definitely the most enjoyable Windows Mobile phone I’ve used.


“But don’t take my word for it.  Over the course of the past two weeks every person who has seen me use the phone has asked if they could look, touch, feel and play with it. I have never seen a cell phone receive that kind of reaction before.”


Disclaimer: this is on my short list of new devices. My wife was looking at getting a new phone with a larger screen and a QWERTY keyboard over her current Smartphone, and this should fit the bill. Originally we were looking at upgrading to the Motorola Q, but that model isn’t compatible on on our network. 


More info:



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