Steinbring Inc.

Like the look of the iPhone?  Don’t wanna get rid of your windows smartphone?  Now, you can keep your windows phone while pretending to have an iPhone.

Instructions Link [ Via UNEASYSilence ]

Well, Windows Vista Activation has been cracked again.  This time, instead of using a vmware image with the validation server on it to revalidate when Vista wants it, there’s a crack to make Vista never want to revalidate.

• The TimerStop vista test crack works on all 32-bit x86 Windows Vista edition such as Vista Ultimate and Vista Home Premium. Success rate in 64-bit (x64) environment is likely to be low.
• The crack will make the time left to activate Vista to become always 43200 minutes (30 days), and will not countdown or reduce.
• It’s possible to access Windows Update if you install Windows Vista with default product key (no product key entered when installation).
• During the first 3 days of activation grace period after installing Windows Vista, Microsoft has designed it in such a way that Vista will allow greatest flexibility for users to install required drivers and application during this period, so Vista won’t prompt any reminder message for activation. After crack, Vista OS will always run with 30 days left for activation, thus there will not be any watermark or reminder to activate.
• It’s possible to pass Windows Vista Genuine Advantage (WVGA) validation, so users able to download Microsoft value-added software for genuine customers.
• As mentioned above, as Vista will also remain in first 3 days of activation grace period, in theory, Microsoft will not be able to differentiate who is the newly installed system, or who is the ‘patched’ system, unless of course, they check for the specific file or system (privacy anyone?).
• Users can only view that there is 30 more days for system to be activated in the system properties, but it won’t affect system usage or installation method.

Link, Download [ Via DailyTech ]

Beginning next month, Microsoft’s IE7 will begin marking all websites with an extended-validation certificate as safe and all websites without one as unsafe.  What does this mean for small businesses on the web?  If you don’t pay for the expensive certificate, IE7 users visiting your site will receive a warning that your site is unsafe and should not be trusted.

To qualify, vendors such as VeriSign Inc. and Comodo will be required to make extensive checks before approving such certificates. They also will have to undergo independent auditing through WebTrust, a service run by trade groups for certified public accountants.

…

Businesses in existence for less than three years may be required to also produce evidence they have a valid bank account. Additional checks are required for banks and other companies deemed to be high-risk targets for scams.

Because many of the steps rely upon government filings, general partnerships, unincorporated associations, sole proprietorships and individuals are currently barred from getting these certificates.

Link [ Via TechDirt ]

An online criminal has offered to sell software that exploits an unpatched bug in Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Vista operating system, according to security vendor Trend Micro Inc. The code was offered for sale in an underground hacker discussion forum last month, said Raimund Genes, Trend Micro’s chief technology officer. The asking price? $50,000.

Link

Microsoft launched a private beta of its new enterprise voice communications server to 2,500 IT professionals. Office Communications Server 2007 is the successor to Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005 and a part of Microsoft’s unified communications portfolio. The software giant hopes to gain traction in this market with a business process integration approach to VoIP.