August 19, 2009 11:20 AM PDT

BOL 1045: IE8: World's most secure browser

by Tom Merritt
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A new study shows that Internet Explorer 8 is the most secure browser in the world. Who paid for the study? Guess. We also uncover the Twitter mafia and a new alliance to fight malware. And Molly's dream of running her car on chickens comes closer to reality.


NOTE: There is no video for today's episode due to a technical error. That's right, you can go ahead and blame Jason for this one. Sorry. --Jason

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EPISODE 1045

Apple lead barely shrinks in customer-satisfaction survey
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2009/08/apple_lead_barely_shrinks_in_c.html?hpid=sec-tech

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10311373-92.html

Microsoft to adopt dual-platform strategy to compete with Android and iPhone, say handset makers
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20090819PD210.html

Shocker: Windows 7 to sell in UK for half the US price!
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/software/0,39029471,49303374,00.htm

New Dell-ARM combo poised to take on Wintel Netbooks?
http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/08/new-dell-arm-combo-poised-to-take-on-wintel-netbooks.ars
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10251841-64.html

New alliance aims to unite malware fight
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10313027-83.html

Study touts Internet Explorer 8 as world's most secure browser
http://www.pcworld.com/article/170316/study_touts_internet_explorer_8_as_worlds_most_secure_browser.html
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/08/microsoft-sponsors-two-nss-reports-ie8-is-the-most-secure.ars

I4i says OpenOffice does not infringe like MS Word
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/08/18/190227/i4i-Says-OpenOffice-Does-Not-Infringe-Like-MS-Word

Microsoft asks for stay of Word injunction
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10311065-56.html

URL Shortener tr.im To Go Community-Owned, Open Source
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/08/19/120206/URL-Shortener-trim-To-Go-Community-Owned-Open-Source

How the short URL game is rigged
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-10311749-250.html

Vote for Buzz Out Loud at SXSW 2010
http://www.cnet.com/8301-19709_1-10311505-10.html

E-MAIL
The Southeastern Conference has revised and cleared up its fan policy.
http://mashable.com/2009/08/18/sec-social-media-policy/

In this interview, Charles Bloom, the SEC Associate Commissioner of Media Relations clears up what the new policy means. Basically, they dont want anyone live streaming the games from their phones, but almost everything else is ok.

http://buzzmanagerblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/official-interview-sec-hears-fans.html

GEAUX TIGERS!

John in Louisiana

**********

Hey BuzzCrew-

Rare and elusive as it is for BOL to breach my field, I do love it. In Episode 1044 you discussed fake DNA for crime scenes etc. Now you were worried that this could be 1) Easily done 2) not discovered.

Well worry not, it was slightly explained in the NY Times article and a little was scene in the original paper’s abstract. The simplistic explanation is that natural DNA is methylated, a chemical process done by the cell to prevent certain genes from activated when not needed. But any DNA created by scientists isn’t methylated. There are quick and easy tests that can be done to prove whether DNA is methylated or not. As for how “simple” this process is to replicate DNA and fake it, well--in my world, relatively, I could probably do this in a few tries and be a pro by next month. As for your common murderer/thief– not likely to have the equipment or more importantly the MONEY to do so.

This would have to be a grand conspiracy and well thought-out.

Sadly we as tax payers will now have to fork over even more for our justice system/labs to add this extra experiment onto the forensics process.

And let me also say, most genetics folks always knew this was possible- just it has now been peer reviewed & published.

Cheers from Oxford
Tom Merritt the Doppelganger, PhD (Okay I never add this, but figured it works this time)

**********

Hey BOL, it’s Oliver in Portland, Oregon.

In yesterday’s episode 1044 an emailer said he was surprised you hadn’t tested the voicemail-bypass tip. I’m writing to say I’m even more baffled that you never hit up Google for a solution. Here’s a link to a Lifehacker article from a few weeks ago. By pressing one-star-pound you guarantee instant access to the beep, regardless of the carrier. Points to you though for the conclusion that Verizon only sometimes works when pressing “one” – the article confirms this!

Sorry to drag this story into a third show, but I think your listeners would appreciate a more solid conclusion. Love listening to you guy!

Cheers.

Oliver
http://lifehacker.com/5326511/bypass-cellphone-voicemail-instructions-with-one-star-pound
**********

Hey guys,

Just wanted to let you know that in Louisiana Tyson Foods is building a bio-diesel Plant that
turns chicken fat into high quality bio-diesel and jet fuel. So Molly is right when she said “we grow a lot of chickens, maybe we should start shoving them into gas tanks”.

http://domesticfuel.com/2009/05/04/louisiana-chicken-fat-biodiesel-plant-nears-completion/

Also, on the topic of the SECs ban on the use of Twitter and other social media during games. Les Miles, the head coach of LSU, which is an SEC school, said he will
be twittering before, during and after games. I guess the rule passed by the SEC was meant to discourage coaches and players as well as fans.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2009-04-28-twitter-cover_N.htm

Thanks for the time.
LOVE THE SHOW

Paul from Baton Rogue, LA

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by raygun01 August 19, 2009 12:10 PM PDT
Sorry folks, no video for today's episode. This guy (that's me) never hit the big red record button on the Tricaster. I was busy fiddling with other things and spaced it. DOH! Anyways, take a trip down memory lane and remember what it was like to imagine what the expressions on our face were for each story... Listen to today's show instead. :)
Reply to this comment
by bdegrande August 19, 2009 3:52 PM PDT
Molly is way off base on Apple's customer satisfaction score. They are down 1% from an all time high, which is within the margin of error. The reason for increased customer satisfaction among the other PC manufacturers is that people are no longer buying Vista on machines totally unsuitable for running it. People arefor the most part either buying XP, as on netbooks, waiting for 7, or are informed enough to throw lots of power at Vista. When 7 and Snow Leopard are released, you should see everyone be happier with their purchases.
Reply to this comment
by cellularcoffee August 19, 2009 4:59 PM PDT
The chemistry between co-hosts is now poisonous. It is very hard to listen to this podcast now.
Reply to this comment
by Minotauro79 August 20, 2009 7:25 AM PDT
Agreed. I can barely listen to episodes that Molly is on because she only talks about what she thinks is stupid and just gives her opinions instead of actually giving some grain of news or facts.
by craigmoliver August 19, 2009 5:12 PM PDT
Really? Rafe was brutal today. Does this guy understand how the internet works?
Reply to this comment
by btsinbr August 19, 2009 6:58 PM PDT
Geaux Tigers!!!!!!
Reply to this comment
by pds6inboston August 20, 2009 6:04 AM PDT
Pig pile.

Plus of minus three points. A score of 84 could be an 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86 or an 87. A score of 85 could be an 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87 or an 88.

Dear God, if you don't get the easy stuff ...................
Reply to this comment
by JustDumpIt August 20, 2009 11:35 AM PDT
Hey Guys,

Just some speculation for you about Microsoft. Where I work we get documents from clients and partners all the time. Just last week we received a .docx from one of our partners that caused me to go 'Hmm...'.

We don't have Office Vista so we use the MS Office Vista compatibility plug-in with MS Office 2002 to allow us to open the new .docx format. When we tried to open this document we got an error message saying that the document is in a new .docx format not supported by the plug-in we use. I checked and we have the latest version of the plug-in, there hasn't been a new version yet, so the change, if there was one, is pretty recent. Since then we've received another couple documents that throw the same error. Could Microsoft be altering its .docx XML format now that they have their XML pattent, or maybe even because of the recent lawsuit?

Anyhow, Love The Show.
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Buzz Out Loud features Tom Merritt, producer Jason Howell, and a rotating roundtable of CNET's top tech experts reviewing the day's tech news. Each episode, five times a week, the crew analyzes, interprets, and argues about what all this technology means and what it's doing to us. Fans can join in the show by calling 1-800-616-2638, e-mailing at buzz@cnet.com, or commenting on the blog.


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Tom Merritt Tom Merritt appears on CNET TV, specializing in help and how-to and the ever popular Top 5 lists. He also co-hosts CNET's The Real Deal podcast. See profile
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