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Sponsor |  ChicagoDad | Aug 29, 2007 4:17am | Microsoft Killed AutoPatcher - No More Third Party Windows Updates
- It's Windows Updates or nothing!
By: Marius Oiaga, Technology News Editor
 Enlarge picture
The AutoPatcher project is dead, courtesy of Microsoft. Antonis Kaladis, AutoPatcher Project Manager broke the news on August 29, revealing that Microsoft killed the initiative designed to supply offline Windows updates. AutoPatcher debuted back in 2003, and functioned with no issues or legal hassles from the Redmond company for four years.
Now, the Redmond company has changed its tune in relation to the project and issued a response involving a cease and decease letter. Subsequently, although the official AutoPatcher website is still up and running, the download page returns a 404 error. Additionally, Microsoft is also focusing
on alternative online locations distributing AutoPatcher. "Today we received an e-mail from Microsoft, requesting the immediate take-down of the download page, which of course means that AutoPatcher is probably history.
As much as we disagree, we can do very little, and although the download page is merely a collection of mirrors, we took the download page down. We would like to thank you for your support. For the past 4 years, it has been a blast. Unfortunately, it seems like it's the end of AutoPatcher as we know it", Kaladis revealed. Before it was shut down, AutoPatcher was offering updates for Windows 2000, Windows XP and even Windows Vista.
The package had an immense advantage over Microsoft's official Windows Update infrastructure allowing users to get their hands on a large collection of updates via a single download and deploy it offline. "AutoPatcher combines the advantage of both Windows Update (presentation and description of updates and automated installation), and the special administrative updates (portability and installation without the need of an Internet connection)," reads a fragment from the description of the now defunct project.
Microsoft is very sensitive on the issue of the redistribution of its software. The Redmond company aims to be the only online source for updates, and taking AutoPatcher down is an illustrative example of Microsoft's policy concerning independent distributors and its proprietary software. Until the time of this article Microsoft failed to offer an official explanation related to the faith it decided for AutoPatcher.
 Digg this!
That REALLY SUCKS DUDES!!!!!
More Vista Talk here From the Autopachter Site : neowin.net/forum/index.php [neowin.net/forum/index.php]
More of an explanation Here: autopatcher.com/134 [autopatcher.com/134] |
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|  BlackHat | Aug 31, 2007 5:10am | Windows update through FireFox (it can be done)
WindizUpdate?
digg.com/software/Windows_update_through_FireFox_ [digg.com/software/Windows_update_through_FireFox_](it_can_be_done)
editmachine.blogspot.com [editmachine.blogspot.com]
Windows update through FireFox (it can be done)
Even though I'm a big fan of Firefox, I wholeheartedly agree. For updates, just turn on Windows' autoupdate function. I haven't been to the windows update ..
windowsupdate.62nds.com/whyuse.php [windowsupdate.62nds.com/whyuse.php]
Why use WindizUpdate?
Not only will it keep you up to date with the latest updates from Microsoft, it will also keep software and drivers from other vendors updated. However, that functionality is currently missing.
Good reasons to use WindizUpdate
- No personally identifiable information is collected from your computer.
- No more unwanted spyware -- Microsoft Internet Explorer can finally be removed from your computer (if that were possible).
- It lists just the updates you need. If an update has been superceded by a newer one, it will not ask you to install the older one.
- Using enhanced data from MBSA, WindizUpdate will find more security patches needed for your O/S than the "other" website.
- If there is a security issue with a component that is not yet installed, it will not ask you to update it. For example, if you have not installed hyperterminal, it will not update it.
- It is not restricted to just Microsoft products. Software from other vendors can also be updated.
- Upgrading to the latest version of Internet Explorer is not considered a Critical Update!
- Works on Windows versions no longer supported by Microsoft -- Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 95
- Our plugin is not an ActiveX control.
- Integrated download manager with error detection -- you can cancel downloads at any time, and the next time you wish to install the cancelled update, it will continue from where it left off. Only corrupted sections of the file are redownloaded.
If you are still not convinced that WindizUpdate is the site for you, please check out our page titled "do we need to say any more?
-->
Disadvantages
- There is a delay from when new updates are released from Microsoft to when they appear on this site.
- If you're using Internet Explorer, you will need to use Microsoft's Windows Update site for updates -- this site will be of no use to you.
- You'll need to upgrade your browser if you're using MSIE 4.xx -- This site won't work, neither will Microsoft's
firefox windows update
windowsupdate.62nds.com/whyuse.php [windowsupdate.62nds.com/whyuse.php]
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Sponsor | | c3 | Sep 5, 2007 6:33am | Microsoft's move this week to close down .......the AutoPatcher projectCommunity fights back for AutoPatcher
Posted by Dave Legg on 30 August 2007 - 18:02 · There are 112 comments
Microsoft's move this week to close down the AutoPatcher project, a project well known and supported here on Neowin, that allows users to update their computers without requiring an internet connection, has met with cries of outrage from members of the Neowin community, and IT professionals from around the world.
Since the initial take-down messages were sent out, and contact was made with both the Neowin administrators, and the project managers of AutoPatcher, Microsoft have fallen silent on the issue, leaving the community with little explanation about the reasons behind their action.
As seen by the number of responses the the news articles, and forum topic here on Neowin, and the news item posted on AutoPatcher's official website, the community is taking this issue very seriously, and are unlikely to let it rest without a full explanation from Microsoft officials.
In a display of support for AutoPatcher, one fan and Neowin member, M2Ys4U, took it upon himself to make a solitary protest outside Microsoft's UK HQ building in Reading this afternoon. As he wasn't permitted to enter the campus, he made a stand outside the gates, displaying his 'Save AutoPatcher' sign for about an hour, before being asked to move on by security.
Whilst Neowin.net does not officially endorse such a protest, we are pleased that it remained peaceful and nobody had to get hurt.
 View: M2Ys4U's Protest Sign
 Video: M2Ys4U's Protest Video Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 -Part 5
View: Ongoing Forum Discussion of the issue
 Link: AutoPatcher |
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|  |  480063 | Sep 7, 2007 11:42am | Beware of of the copycats......
Beware wolf dressed in Tor's clothing: new rash of malware
Posted by Xeni Jardin, September 6, 2007 4:50 PM | # | Discuss (1)
Nick Mathewson from the Tor project (a free tool that helps with anonymity and privacy online) says: 
I guess you've really arrived when botnet spammers start using your name to trick hapless users into install their malware.
Around this morning, people started getting Spam with subject lines like "What you do online is at risk" and "Careful, you.re being watched" and "You are being watched online."
The message contents tell people to download Tor.
Obviously, this spam doesn't come from us, and the links aren't links to the real Tor software. Instead, if you click the links, you'll get a bunch of nasty javascript to try to fool your browser into installing a botnet client.
As always, you can find the real Tor software at https://tor.eff.org/. All legitimate Tor packages are signed; you can find instructions for verifying the signatures here [ Link ].
Ben Laurie has funny comments here [ Link ]; f-secure has a writeup here [ Link ].
 Support Tor: donate! Tor: anonymity online Tor is a toolset for a wide range of organizations and people that want to improve their safety and security on the Internet.
Using Tor can help you anonymize web browsing and publishing, instant messaging, IRC, SSH, and other applications that use the TCP protocol. Tor also provides a platform on which software developers can build new applications with built-in anonymity, safety, and privacy features.
Tor aims to defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal anonymity and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security. Communications are bounced around a distributed network of servers called onion routers, |
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|  JackCuStowe | Sep 14, 2007 8:15pm | America 's 1# Tech PodCast
Latest Release  Running time: 1:35:06 Download MP3 file Subscribe... ----------------------------------- iTunes Google Yahoo! Podcasts Odeo Podnova Other podcast clients (pcast:// compatible) RSS September 14th, 2007 Security Now 109: Steve's E-Commerce System Hosts: Steve Gibson with Leo Laporte Steve talks about developing his in-house E-Commerce system, and how he solved some issues other e-commerce system handle poorly. We also talk about the pleasures of assembly language programming. For 16kpbs versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Security Now is brought to you by Astaro Internet Security. Bandwidth for Security Now! is provided by AOL Radio. |
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| | TunaFishEnTonial | Sep 16, 2007 10:04am | Anonymous Bittorrent
tinyurl.com/afb37 [tinyurl.com/afb37]
Update: We've added another document explaining how to use bit torrent anonymously with the EFF spondored anonymous TOR network (cache). Please check out the Anonymous Bittorrent with TOR wiki page for instructions!
Download the software i2p.net/download [i2p.net/download] (cache)
Configure your firewall
i2p requires that if you have a firewall (and who doesn't?) that you configure it to allow TCP traffic, on port 8887, in through your firewall to the host running the i2p software. It will not work correctly without you opening this port. So, double check your stand alone firewall, and if you're running a client firewall (such as the Windows XP built in firewall) make sure that is also configured to allow traffic in on TCP port 8887. You can also configure I2P to run on another port, but we suggest you stick with the default.
Install the software Note: You must have Java installed on your system to run i2p. If you do not have Java installed, go to this URL and download a copy for your Operating System: java.com [java.com] Once you have Java installed on your system, run this command from the directory with the i2p software: java -jar i2pinstall.jar OR You can just double click on the i2pinstall.jar file if your system is setup to understand what a .jar file is (on Windows, this is almost always the case if you have Java installed.)
Start the services Normally the install will startup the i2p services automatically, but in case they don't, or if you shut them down and want to start them up again, run these commands (from the directory you install i2p in): ./i2prouter start
Point your browser to this URL localhost:7657/index.jsp [localhost:7657/index.jsp] This is the i2p router interface, your gateway to the software, documentation, and lists of sites on the network. Before you can do anything, you need to "seed" your router. No worries, it very very simple to do, just look on the left hand side of the "Router Console" page and click the "reseed" link. It should change to "reseeding" To start access sites via your browser, you need to take one more step.
Change your proxy Change your browsers proxy to point to localhost port 4444. We also recommend you add "localhost" to your list of excluded sites, otherwise you won't be able to use the Router Console anymore (localhost:7657/index.jsp [localhost:7657/index.jsp])
Wait for "seeding" to finish And the last step, regretably, might take a few minutes, you simply have to wait for your i2p router to finish seeding. One it finishes, then you can access i2p websites (urls with the .i2p domain name extension - example foo.i2p [foo.i2p]).
Where to get i2p enabled bit torrent Now that you have i2p working, you can download the i2p enabled bit torrent software. No, its not currently available on the "regular" Internet, unless someone decides to mirror it there. And hey, if you're so inclinded, so for it! The link to the i2p enabled bit torrent software is: duck.i2p/i2p-bt/ [duck.i2p/i2p-bt/] (You must be running i2p for this link to work!) Some bit torrent websites on the I2P network duck.i2p/bittorrent/ [duck.i2p/bittorrent/] (You must be running i2p for this link to work!) brittanyworld.i2p/bittorrent/ [brittanyworld.i2p/bittorrent/] (You must be running i2p for this link to work!)
Closing thoughts Its rumored the smart folks over at the
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| | JackCuStowe | Sep 27, 2007 6:16am | Use wifi at Starbucks? Consider using this
  HotSpotVPN Your iPhone VPN (Order HotSpotVPN2 for your laptop and get HotSpotVPN-1 for your iPhone free!) Top Ten Reasons Why HotSpotVPN is the Best VPN Service: - HotSpotVPN is a pure VPN service with your privacy at the core of it's business model. HotSpotVPN does not un-encrypt your data for advertisers or provide VPN service as a means to sell you other services.
- Windows Vista and Mac OS X 10.4.x are fully supported. Our security solutions support the widest selection of clients: iPhones, Nokia N770 and N800, Windows, Mac, Linux, Pocket PC, Palms, Treos, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and Solaris.
- HotSpotVPN works with all of your applications, not just your web browser.
- PPTP L2TP and IPSEC VPNs are easy to block and often do not work out in the wild. HotSpotVPN2 works where other VPNs will not so you can be protected at every turn, everyday, everywhere.
- HotSpotVPN offers the strongest encryption (256bits vs. 128bits) of any commercially available Virtual Private Network. If the government wouldn't use 128bit encryption why should you?
- HotSpotVPN-2 has the fastest windows setup, four clicks of a mouse and your Internet traffic is cloaked. No tedious web forms to fill out. Just connect and protect.
- You can use your VOIP even when your ISP does not want you to.
- No additional services are required. There are no hidden costs. No extra email accounts, no extra software, no extra anything.
- Choose the VPN ports and protocols that are best for you. Optimize it for VOIP, video conferencing or your local environment. You can't do that with any other public VPN.
- Over the last four years HotSpotVPN has been recommended by The Wall Street Journal, PC Magazine, Intel, WiFiPlanet, MacWorld, Entrepreneur Magazine, The Seattle Times, TechWeb's MobilePipeline and many others.
Choose the VPN encryption level that is right for you There are two product families: HotSpotVPN-1 and HotSpotVPN-2. HotSpotVPN-2 is a SSL VPN. There are three HotSpotVPN-2 flavors. - Do you need to be HIPAA compliant? Do you need the best encryption available? Then choose the 256bit AES VPN.
- Want a little more speed but still require the Advanced Encryption Standard? Then choose the 192bit AES VPN.
- Want a secure fast VPN you can tune to fit your environment? Then choose our 128bit BlowFish VPN.
HotSpotVPN-1 is a PPTP VPN and uses 128bit MPPE encryption and is the only VPN service available for your Palm and Pocket PC devices. It is very easy to set up because most operating systems (Windows, OS X) come with a PPTP client already installed. The typical setup takes less than three minutes. Pricing: HotSpotVPN2 (which includes a complimentary PPTP HotSpotVPN-1 account for your handheld device) is 10.88 per month for Blowfish encryption (128 bits), $11.88 for AES-192 (192 bits), and $13.88 for AES-256 (256 bits). HotSpotVPN-1 is $8.88 per month. Annual subscriptions are available for ten times these amounts. HotSpotVPN-1 is perfect for the infrequent traveler because it is available in 1,3, and 7 day increments for only $3.88, $5.88, and $6.88 respectively. Click Here to Order Why do I need a VPN? If you are using WiFi (802.11a,b.g) public hotspots then you are sending and receiving all of your traffic in "the clear". It is penetrating walls, it is zooming across the street, and it is all readable plain text. Many hotels have sniffable wired networks. Go to a conference with your competitors and from the comfort of your hotel room you might be exchanging more than greetings. If your data is in the clear on a sniffable network everything you do is available for public perusal. Just look at the mouse pointer in the picture below. That could be your email password.  Don't let your private information (or your company's) end up on a hacker's hard drive. If you check your email on a sniffable network anyone with a sniffer can record your usernames, passwords, destinations, and any "payload" that you sent or received. If you received a spreadsheet via email it may be on some hacker's hard drive before it gets to yours, and with wireless networks the hacker could be a half mile away. Your instant messages may be flying across someone else's laptop screen right now. HotSpotVPN allows you to protect yourself by encrypting your traffic and cloaking your destination in a Virtual Private Network. * Windows 2000 and later clients are supported. Click Here to Order WiFi and Security News . |
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