Microsoft has officially announced it will be releasing FIVE versions of Windows 7:  Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate, and only Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional will be sold in retail.  Apparently this is to remove confusion caused by all the versions of Windows Vista.  They’ll be selling Home Premium to basic users, and Professional to businesses.

Microsoft, I think  the confusion came from having a billion versions of an operating system, and you’re doing it again?!  *Smacks forehead*

To top it off, the Windows 7 beta that 2.5 million or more of us are testing is Ultimate – but will only be offered as an upgrade.  This means we’ll be forced to buy Home Premium or Professional, and then pay even more for “Ultimate.”

Windows 7 Ultimate beta 7000 is nice, so why don’t you just sell what you’ve been having us beta test – and leave it at that!

Microsoft: this is blatant stupidity, and it’s moves like this that are going to make more and more people convert to OS X and become a “Mac.”

Hello everyone!  A common problem for Vista users with Dreamweaver MX is the “Insert>Tables” function; it simply will not work.  I have already posted two articles on this issue providing some fixes for the issue.  In the first article, I show how to make the “Insert Table” function actually do something and that is insert a table.  The only problem with THIS fix is that it doesn’t allow you to change the specs before the table is inserted into your Document.  The second fix is a tip given by a user, and another tip given by me which has worked for a decent ammount of people, but not all (for some it only worked temporarily, then the problem occured again.)  In this tutorial, I will be giving a new fix which will make the “Insert Tables” function work like a charm.

1.  First thing is first, download, save, and extract this ZIP file:  newtable1.zip

2.  Right click and copy the “table.htm” file  (The code in this file was taken from an extension called “etable” that you can download from http://www.idest.com/dreamweaver/objects-fr.htm)

3.  Go to C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Dreamweaver MX\Configuration\Objects\Common  (NOTE:  Some users may have to go there AND C:\Users\YOUR USER NAME\AppData\Roaming\Macromedia\Dreamweaver MX\Configuration\Objects\Common and repeat the following steps in both locations.  This location is “Hidden” so either enable windows explorer to view hidden files and navigate to this location, OR copy and paste the filepath into the address bar in windows explorer and replace “YOUR USER NAME” with an appropriate username.)

4.  In this folder, rename “Table.htm” to “Tableold.htm” so you can reuse this file as a backup.

5.  Now, press CTRL+V to paste the recently downloaded “Table.htm” file.

6.  Open up Dreamweaver MX and insert a table

Now, the customization feature won’t look exactly like the original, but it has all the functions – plus a little more!  If you want, you can even tweak this “Table.htm” file to do whatever you’d like.

For me, this is the best way to get Dreamweaver MX to insert tables on Windows Vista.

What Do You Think?
Did this help you?  Have you tweaked the Table.htm file to do something really cool?  Send your thoughts to david@funkytower or leave a comment below.  I look forward to hearing from you. 

Take it easy,
David Crandall

UPDATE:
I received this e-mail from Dave who has some useful information for those who may have trouble using this fix.

Just a heads up I had to change the file in all of these location in order to get it to work. Thought I would let you know in case anyone else had trouble with it. So thank you for pointing me in the right direction. The tables not working has been a huge frustration since switching to vista.

Thanks again!

C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Dreamweaver MX\Configuration\Objects\Common

C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Dreamweaver MX\Configuration-1\Objects\Common

C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Macromedia\Common

C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Macromedia\Dreamweaver MX\Configuration\Objects\Common

In Dave’s case, there are 4 file paths in which he had to paste the “Table.htm” file.  This situation is pretty uncommon, but if you find yourself STILL not being able to get the ‘Insert Table” function to work, search out some new file paths that are in relation to Dreamweaver MX.

Please note, typically, when you need to paste this file in more than the two file paths is when you’ve uninstalled and reinstalled Dreamweaver MX multiple times.  When uninstalling Dreamweaver MX, Vista leaves behind the hidden “Configuration” files, thus, when reinstalling, a second Configuration folder is created.  I hope this makes sense.  Thank you, Dave, for sharing your new info with us!

http://www.funkytower.com/2008/08/06/dangerous-dns-problem/

DNS is what has revolutionized and, in many ways, helped create the spectacular online environment we have today, know as the World Wide Web.  We use DNS for virtually everything, from e-mail, to myspace, to online banking, to having internet access itself.  DNS is what converts an ip address (a bunch of numbers that identify a system) to a name like www.funkytower.com, or pop.domain.com, etc.  The flaw which has been found is very scary, as it can potentially change the course of our entire life.  This flaw could allow malicious persons  to duplicate any domain name.

“How could this change the course of my entire life?” you ask?  Simply this: say you went to www.wamu.com to work on your bank account, you enter in your information, log in, and everything seems fine – but what you wouldn’t know is you were logging in to a fake website that looks exactly like www.wamu.com, and you just gave all of your bank information to a complete stranger.  Next thing you know, all your money is gone and there is no possible way to have it recovered.

What an awful fear to have to live with.  There currently is no solution for this problem either.  Many engineers and developers have come up with patches for this problem – but it doesn’t solve it.  All it does, is make the problem alot harder to access.  This is not good enough to me.

I’m on a bit of a vacation here in Oregon and I keep having this slight fear in the back of my mind “I hope no one has managed to hack into my bank account and all my money is gone” and “I hope no one gained my password to my Paypal account!”

What causes people to do such things that we even have to worry about something like this?  Sadly, the world we live in today is hardly safe.  We are already worried about identity theft without hearing much about this problem.

I cannot wait until the day when this problem finally comes to an end.

Take it easy,
David

Whether or not we’ll see this baby in stores or in any consumer electronics is unsure.  However, this new technology opens up the door to inventing the bionic eye, much like that of the Terminator.  Its use in this case would be, obviously, medical – to replace an existing, disfunctional eyeball, much like replacing a missing leg with a prosthetic leg, or arm with moving fingers.

This is possible because the brain waves our mind projects in order to function all aspects of are bodies are, in fact, electrical.  Scientists have already developed technology where someone who is physically disabled from the neck down to use a computer with their mind.  That’s right, they can move the mouse cursor and type using their mind.  It’s insane, but if you think about it, it’s almost the same as having a prosthetic leg – it’s the same idea.

I can guarantee this – soon we’ll see in the news headlines “First person to receive the prosthetic eyeball.”

You can read more about how the camera and how it’s actually made here: http://news.cnet.com/2300-11395_3-6244954-1.html?tag=ne.gall.pg

Simply amazing

What Do You Think?
Know of any new technologies out their that benefit society?  What do you think the primary use of the eye camera will be?  What ever you have to say, send me an e-mail at david@funkytower.com, or simply leave a comment!  I would love to hear from you :)
Take it easy,
David Crandall

Recently, a huge threat to DNS, the system that translates IP Addresses to unique names (and vice verce), creating URLs such as funkytower.com, has been discovered.  This threat would allow malicious users to impersonate almost any website on the Internet. 

This issue, obviously, is SERIOUS.  All nameservers need to be patched ASAP.  Updates are being released for a lot of different platforms because the problem is with with the DNS protocol, not a specific implementation.

The US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Response Team) wants help in getting the word out about this problem, which was made public in July, 2008.

So, my efforts are to show you a link from the US-CERT Website containing the alert itself to help inform you on the details.  So be sure to read it!

You may read it in its entirety here: http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/800113

Here you can find all of the details about the problem, including a list of systems that have been effected, many of which are companies we know and love who provied us with internet access, phones and phone services, and computers.  Microsoft, AT&T, and Apple are just a few.  These companies are taking measures to fix their DNS, however this is effecting some of our own experiences on the internet, and not in a positive way.  However, these problems are coming and gong so fast, it hardly comes to the attention to the average person that there might even be anything wrong.

The US-CERT has already done this, but I would personally like to thank Dan Kaminsky of IOActive for finding and revealing this dangerous flaw.  I would also like to thank Dan Kaminsky, the US-CERT, IOActive, and the people getting the word out about this problem for helping make the World Wide Web a safe, secure, and enjoyable place, and literally keeping it alive.

“Delta, which is based in Atlanta, said it would sell Wi-Fi service to customers traveling throughout the continental United States. The carrier is working with Aircell, an airborne communications provider, to install the network on Delta’s domestic fleet of more than 330 aircraft.”  – New York Times

It’s not free though; this service is going to cost almost $10 for flights three hours long or less, and about $13 on longer flights.

Continental Airlines announced it was going to introduce WiFi features like instant messaging and e-mail on flights opperating in the continental US on January 29th.

To me, this is awesome.  I love to fly, but sometimes those long, cross country flights can be boring.  If you’re like me, you tend to keep in touch with family and friends at home when you’re away through the internet.  For people like me, this will be a wonderful feature.  I’m not to thrilled with the price on shorter flights, but regaurdless, this will be a wonderful feature for travelers.

I’m hoping this will open the door to new technologies that allow us to use more WiFi capable gadgets like the PSP, and possibly cellular gadgets as well.  Who wouldn’t enjoy a good game with a friend on a flight?  Right now, for most airlines, cellular and wifi capable devices are disallowed while airborn which can be a bummer at times for us techies.

All in all, because this is a new feature, there is bound to be some flaws – but as technology quickly progresses, I’m sure they’d be fixed quickly.  I can’t wait until I get to fly and IM my friends and family at the same time.  I’m really happy about this feature.

What Do You Think?
Have you already flown and used the WiFi services provided by an airline?  Do you think this is a great feature for major airlines to take hold of?  Know of any other tech related news or service?  Whatever the case may be, I want to know about it!  So be sure and send your information to david@funkytower.com :)

Take it easy,
David Crandall