Here's a look at the features that just might keep BlackBerry users from jumping ship to an Android device or Apple's iPhone

Behold the BlackBerry Torch

A visual tour of the BlackBerry Torch 9800

Here's a look at the features that just might keep BlackBerry users from jumping ship to an Android device or Apple's iPhone.

Read more »

1979 Apple Graphics Tablet vs. 2010 Apple iPad

When Apple launched the iPad earlier this year, it was the culmination of fans' long wait for the company to enter the tablet computer market. There's no doubt that Apple's iPad is a revolutionary computing device that's ushering in a new era of tablet computing. But in 1979, an earlier generation of Apple users used a different kind of Apple tablet, back when the word meant something else entirely.
The Apple Graphics Tablet was designed by Summagraphics and sold by Apple Computer Inc. for the Apple II personal microcomputer. (Summagraphics also marketed the device for other platforms as the BitPad.) To be clear, this tablet was not a stand-alone computing device like the iPad. Instead, it was an input device for creating images on the Apple II's screen, and it predated the Apple II's mouse by six years.
Apple II fan Tony Diaz had an Apple Graphics Tablet on hand at last month's KansasFest, an annual convention for diehard Apple II users. He and Computerworld's Ken Gagne, the event's marketing director, compared and contrasted Apple's original tablet with the iPad, snapping photos as they went.
Despite the three decades of technology advancements that separate the two devices, some fun comparisons are still possible. Join us for a photo face-off between the two tablets.

Meet the tablets

The Apple Graphics Tablet (left) was released in 1979 and cost $650. It connects to any Apple II and can be used to draw images at a resolution of 280 by 192 pixels. The tablet draws power directly from the Apple II and cannot be used when disconnected.
The Apple II was originally designed to be used with televisions rather than computer monitors, but the Apple Graphics Tablet produced interference that could disrupt reception of television signals. A later model was identical to its predecessor except for one notable new feature: FCC compliance.
The Apple iPad (right) was released in 2010 in six models ranging from $499 to $829. Equipped with a 1-GHz A4 system-on-a-chip and a 16GB, 32GB or 64GB flash drive, it syncs with any Macintosh or Windows machine capable of running iTunes and can run thousands of iOS applications. Its resolution is 1024 by 768 pixels on a 9.7-in. LED-backlit glossy widescreen display.

Read more »

Advantages of Online CRM Solution

Customer relationship management or CRM is defined as the process of tracking and organizing contacts with your current and prospective customers. An effective CRM practice revolves around different departments of your business process, enhances its productivity and service to match expectations of your customers. According a recent survey conducted by “Benchmark” CRM applications can increase revenue per sales person by 41% and improve lead conversion over 300%. Other advantages of CRM are customer retention, better profit margin and decreased marketing and sales cost. That is the reason Claudio Marcus, research director at Gartner commented "CRM is not part of a business strategy; CRM is the business strategy."

Advent of internet has caused a paradigm shift to age old dynamics of customer relationship management. Web based CRM or online CRM comprises s et of software applications hosted by an Application Service Provider (ASP). These applications enable you to deliver services through internet. From free of cost Google Calendar to Customized and business specific online CRM solutions are available in the market. Their installation in your business process offer manifold advantages. They lower down the cost of entry and ownership. You can implement changes according to demands of customers in a faster manner. It helps in faster transmission of information among the line of organizational hierarchy and your customers.

Accessibility is another advantage of online CRM applications. Though these application you can access your customers from any part of the globe. Implementation of online CRM solutions is easy as they do not need any costly hardware server infrastructure and deployment of backend operations. If you are going for a customized Online CRM solution, it can adopt to growing demands of your business.

In a nutshell, Online applications will lead you towards smoother operation, expanded customer base and better profit.

Read more »

Desktop Computer Released

Onkyo DE411 Desktop Computer Released

Onkoyo has just released their new all-in-one desktop PC called the Onkoyo DE411. The PC will cost around $950 and has been released in Japan. The DE411 is powered by a 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive space, Digital TV Tuner, DVD Burner, WiFi and most importantly to note, it runs on Windows 7 Home Premium. The DE411 has a 21.5” nettop with built in speakers. This is an ideal all-in-one desktop pc and whether you are a forex trader or a web developer, the Onoyo DE411 will serve you right.

HP Pavilion Elite Desktop Computer

The new Pavilion Elite desktop computers that are coming out seem to be a mass of multimedia excellence. These powerhouse computers are sporting a new and improved 1TB hard drive. Yes, that is a 1 terabyte drive and that is way more than enough to handle anything you might throw at it. To top that off, it comes standard with 8GB of memory and a video card that has 1GB of onboard memory as well. It may not be the gaming powerhouse some people are looking for but you should be able to play all the newest games with ease and at a more reasonable price than some of the high end gaming computers. Probably the best aspect of this new computer is the 25 inch high definition monitor that ships with the computer. With a super resolution of 1920 by 1080 you won’t have any issues with quality. You can easily scan through HD video content with no issues of lag from the video capture, and it’s always crystal clear.

Read more »

operating system

If Mainframe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?

IBM is beginning a new initiative to raise awareness (and sales) of the System z10 mainframe. Mainframes provide high availability and security but still remain a more specialized platform that won't be right for all businesses. Understand the advant...
Brief

Linux on the Desktop: Not Just for Europe Anymore

Linux desktop adoption has been heralded, prophesied, predicted, and the subject of endless debate. Debate no longer, Info-Tech sees a gradual growth in paid Linux desktop adoption in North America and expects to see more. ...
Brief

Utility Infrastructure Reduces Business Unit Costs & IT Headaches

Utility infrastructure saves computing and storage costs while providing tight cost control for business units, but represents a major shift in IT strategy. Understand the benefits and the effort required to properly plan for a utility infrastructure...
Brief

Technology Migrations: What is the Driving Force?

The release of Windows Vista has opened a recurring question for enterprise IT staff; when do you migrate to new technology? When is the time right for change and what are some of the factors that impact the decision to migrate? Often it is younger e...
Brief

Federal Agencies: New Security Directive Dictates Desktop Configurations

Mandating the usage of standard Windows desktop configurations across all US federal agencies is a step in the right direction for government IT security. However, the timelines are tight. Agencies must make immediate plans to test and deploy these s...

Read more »

MONITERS AND LCD

A liquid crystal display (LCD) is a thin, flat electronic visual display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals (LCs). LCs do not emit light directly. They began to be sold in 1888.

They are used in a wide range of applications including: computer monitors, television, instrument panels, aircraft cockpit displays, signage, etc. They are common in consumer devices such as video players, gaming devices, clocks, watches, calculators, and telephones. LCDs have displaced cathode ray tube(CRT) displays in most applications. They are usually more compact, lightweight, portable, and less expensive. They are available in a wider range of screen sizes than CRT and other flat panel displays.


LCDs are more energy efficient and offer safer disposal than CRTs. Its low electrical power consumption enables it to be used in battery-powered electronic equipment. It is an electronically-modulated optical device made up of any number of pixels filled with liquid crystals and arrayed in front of a light source (backlight) or reflector to produce images in colour or monochrome. The earliest discovery leading to the development of LCD technology, the discovery of liquid crystals, dates from 1888.[1] By 2008, worldwide sales of televisions with LCD screens had surpassed the sale of CRT units.

Read more »

NEW COMPUTERS

AMD Athlon II 64X2 245 2.9Ghz		Intel Core i3 530, 2.9GHz X4
	Specs: - AMD Athlon II 64X2 245 2.9Ghz - 2GB DDR2 RAM - 500GB Hard Drive - 7 USB Ports - 420Watt Power Supply - Nvidia GeForce Video - DVD-RW 1 Year hardware warranty		Specs: - Intel Core i3 530, 2.9GHz - 4GB DDR3 Ram - 1TB Hard Drive - Card Reader - 22X-DVD-RW - 480 Wattt Power Supply Monitor and accessories not included
Price $329		Price $599
AMD Phenom II 64X4 Quad Core 620 2.6Ghz		Intel Core2 Duo E5300, 2.60-GHz
	Specs: - AMD Phenom II X4 620 2.6Ghz - 4GB DDR II RAM - 500GB HDD - 8 Port USB - 480 Watt Power Supply - 22x DVD RW - 6 Channel Audio - Multi Card Reader - Nvidia GeForce Video 1 Year hardware warranty		Specs: - Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300, 2.6 GHz - 3GB DDR2 Ram - 500GB Hard Drive - Card Reader - 22X-DVD-RW - 480 Wattt Power Supply Monitor not Included
Price $499		Price $ 399
AMD Athlon II 64X2 250 3.0Ghz		Intel Core2 Duo E7500, 2.93GHz
1 year hardware warranty	Specs: - AMD Athlon II 64X2 250 3.0Ghz - 3GB DDR2 RAM - 500GB HDD - 6 Port USB - 22x DVD RW - 480Watt Power supply - Card Reader - Ethernet - Nvidia GeForce Video 1 Year hardware warranty	1 Year hardware warranty	Specs: - Intel Core2 Duo E7500, 3mb cache, 2.93-GHz - 4GB DDR2 RAM - 500GB Hard Drive - Card Reader - 7 USB 2.0 Ports - 480 Watt Power Supply - 22x DVD-RW - Ethernet Monitor and accessories not included
Price $399		Price $499

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JHquR9LWHVs?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JHquR9LWHVs?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

Read more »

History of computing hardware

The Jacquard loom, on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, England, was one of the first programmable devices.

The first use of the word "computer" was recorded in 1613, referring to a person who carried out calculations, or computations, and the word continued to be used in that sense until the middle of the 20th century. From the end of the 19th century onwards though, the word began to take on its more familiar meaning, describing a machine that carries out computations.[3]

The history of the modern computer begins with two separate technologies—automated calculation and programmability—but no single device can be identified as the earliest computer, partly because of the inconsistent application of that term. Examples of early mechanical calculating devices include the abacus, the slide rule and arguably the astrolabe and the Antikythera mechanism (which dates from about 150–100 BC). Hero of Alexandria (c. 10–70 AD) built a mechanical theater which performed a play lasting 10 minutes and was operated by a complex system of ropes and drums that might be considered to be a means of deciding which parts of the mechanism performed which actions and when.[4] This is the essence of programmability.

The "castle clock", an astronomical clock invented by Al-Jazari in 1206, is considered to be the earliest programmable analog computer.[5] It displayed the zodiac, the solar and lunar orbits, a crescent moon-shaped pointer travelling across a gateway causing automatic doors to open every hour,[6][7] and five robotic musicians who played music when struck by levers operated by a camshaft attached to a water wheel. The length of day and night could be re-programmed to compensate for the changing lengths of day and night throughout the year.[5]

The Renaissance saw a re-invigoration of European mathematics and engineering. Wilhelm Schickard's 1623 device was the first of a number of mechanical calculators constructed by European engineers, but none fit the modern definition of a computer, because they could not be programmed.

In 1801, Joseph Marie Jacquard made an improvement to the textile loom by introducing a series of punched paper cards as a template which allowed his loom to weave intricate patterns automatically. The resulting Jacquard loom was an important step in the development of computers because the use of punched cards to define woven patterns can be viewed as an early, albeit limited, form of

It was the fusion of automatic calculation with programmability that produced the first recognizable computers. In 1837, Charles Babbage was the first to conceptualize and design a fully programmable mechanical computer, his analytical engine.[8] Limited finances and Babbage's inability to resist tinkering with the design meant that the device was never completed.

In the late 1880s, Herman Hollerith invented the recording of data on a machine readable medium. Prior uses of machine readable media, above, had been for control, not data. "After some initial trials with paper tape, he settled on punched cards ..."[9] To process these punched cards he invented the tabulator, and the keypunch machines. These three inventions were the foundation of the modern information processing industry. Large-scale automated data processing of punched cards was performed for the 1890 United States Census by Hollerith's company, which later became the core of IBM. By the end of the 19th century a number of technologies that would later prove useful in the realization of practical computers had begun to appear: the punched card, Boolean algebra, the vacuum tube (thermionic valve) and the teleprinter.

During the first half of the 20th century, many scientific computing needs were met by increasingly sophisticated analog computers, which used a direct mechanical or electrical model of the problem as a basis for computation. However, these were not programmable and generally lacked the versatility and accuracy of modern digital computers.

Alan Turing is widely regarded to be the father of modern computer science. In 1936 Turing provided an influential formalisation of the concept of the algorithm and computation with the Turing machine. Of his role in the modern computer, Time magazine in naming Turing one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, states: "The fact remains that everyone who taps at a keyboard, opening a spreadsheet or a word-processing program, is working on an incarnation of a Turing machine".[10]

The inventor of the program-controlled computer was Konrad Zuse, who built the first working computer in 1941 and later in 1955 the first computer based on magnetic storage.[11]

George Stibitz is internationally recognized as a father of the modern digital computer. While working at Bell Labs in November 1937, Stibitz invented and built a relay-based calculator he dubbed the "Model K" (for "kitchen table", on which he had assembled it), which was the first to use binary circuits to perform an arithmetic operation. Later models added greater sophistication including complex arithmetic and programmability.[12]
Defining characteristics of some early digital computers of the 1940s (In the history of computing hardware) Name First operational Numeral system Computing mechanism Programming Turing complete
Zuse Z3 (Germany) May 1941 Binary Electro-mechanical Program-controlled by punched film stock (but no conditional branch) Yes (1998)
Atanasoff–Berry Computer (US) 1942 Binary Electronic Not programmable—single purpose No
Colossus Mark 1 (UK) February 1944 Binary E

Save as Draft

lectronic Program-controlled by patch cables and switches No
Harvard Mark I – IBM ASCC (US) May 1944 Decimal Electro-mechanical Program-controlled by 24-channel punched paper tape (but no conditional branch) No
Colossus Mark 2 (UK) June 1944 Binary Electronic Program-controlled by patch cables and switches No
ENIAC (US) July 1946 Decimal Electronic Program-controlled by patch cables and switches Yes
Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (Baby) (UK) June 1948 Binary Electronic Stored-program in Williams cathode ray tube memory Yes
Modified ENIAC (US) September 1948 Decimal Electronic Program-controlled by patch cables and switches plus a primitive read-only stored programming mechanism using the Function Tables as program ROM Yes
EDSAC (UK) May 1949 Binary Electronic Stored-program in mercury delay line memory Yes
Manchester Mark 1 (UK) October 1949 Binary Electronic Stored-program in Williams cathode ray tube memory and magnetic drum memory Yes
CSIRAC (Australia) November 1949 Binary Electronic Stored-program in mercury delay line memory Yes

A succession of steadily more powerful and flexible computing devices were constructed in the 1930s and 1940s, gradually adding the key features that are seen in modern computers. The use of digital electronics (largely invented by Claude Shannon in 1937) and more flexible programmability were vitally important steps, but defining one point along this road as "the first digital electronic computer" is difficult.Shannon 1940 Notable achievements include:
EDSAC was one of the first computers to implement the stored program (von Neumann) architecture.
Die of an Intel 80486DX2 microprocessor (actual size: 12×6.75 mm) in its packaging.

* Konrad Zuse's electromechanical "Z machines". The Z3 (1941) was the first working machine featuring binary arithmetic, including floating point arithmetic and a measure of programmability. In 1998 the Z3 was proved to be Turing complete, therefore being the world's first operational computer.[13]
* The non-programmable Atanasoff–Berry Computer (1941) which used vacuum tube based computation, binary numbers, and regenerative capacitor memory. The use of regenerative memory allowed it to be much more compact than its peers (being approximately the size of a large desk or workbench), since intermediate results could be stored and then fed back into the same set of computation elements.
* The secret British Colossus computers (1943),[14] which had limited programmability but demonstrated that a device using thousands of tubes could be reasonably reliable and electronically reprogrammable. It was used for breaking German wartime codes.
* The Harvard Mark I (1944), a large-scale electromechanical computer with limited programmability.
* The U.S. Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory ENIAC (1946), which used decimal arithmetic and is sometimes called the first general purpose electronic computer (since Konrad Zuse's Z3 of 1941 used electromagnets instead of electronics). Initially, however, ENIAC had an inflexible architecture which essentially required rewiring to change its programming.

Several developers of ENIAC, recognizing its flaws, came up with a far more flexible and elegant design, which came to be known as the "stored program architecture" or von Neumann architecture. This design was first formally described by John von Neumann in the paper First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, distributed in 1945. A number of projects to develop computers based on the stored-program architecture commenced around this time, the first of these being completed in Great Britain. The first to be demonstrated working was the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM or "Baby"), while the EDSAC, completed a year after SSEM, was the first practical implementation of the stored program design. Shortly thereafter, the machine originally described by von Neumann's paper—EDVAC—was completed but did not see full-time use for an additional two years.

Nearly all modern computers implement some form of the stored-program architecture, making it the single trait by which the word "computer" is now defined. While the technologies used in computers have changed dramatically since the first electronic, general-purpose computers of the 1940s, most still use the von Neumann architecture.

Beginning in the 1950s, Soviet scientists Sergei Sobolev and Nikolay Brusentsov conducted research on ternary computers, devices that operated on a base three numbering system of -1, 0, and 1 rather than the conventional binary numbering system upon which most computers are based. They designed the Setun, a functional ternary computer, at Moscow State University. The device was put into limited production in the Soviet Union, but supplanted by the more common binary architecture.

Computers using vacuum tubes as their electronic elements were in use throughout the 1950s, but by the 1960s had been largely replaced by transistor-based machines, which were smaller, faster, cheaper to produce, required less power, and were more reliable. The first transistorised computer was demonstrated at the University of Manchester in 1953.[15] In the 1970s, integrated circuit technology and the subsequent creation of microprocessors, such as the Intel 4004, further decreased size and cost and further increased speed and reliability of computers. By the late 1970s, many products such as video recorders contained dedicated computers called microcontrollers, and they started to appear as a replacement to mechanical controls in domestic appliances such as washing machines. The 1980s witnessed home computers and the now ubiquitous personal computer. With the evolution of the Internet, personal computers are becoming as common as the television and the telephone in the household[citation needed].

Modern smartphones are fully programmable computers in their own right, and as of 2009 may well be the most common form of such computers in existence[citation needed].
Stored program architecture
Main articles: Computer program and Computer programming

The defining feature of modern computers which distinguishes them from all other machines is that they can be programmed. That is to say that a list of instructions (the program) can be given to the computer and it will store them and carry them out at some time in the future.

In most cases, computer instructions are simple: add one number to another, move some data from one location to another, send a message to some external device, etc. These instructions are read from the computer's memory and are generally carried out (executed) in the order they were given. However, there are usually specialized instructions to tell the computer to jump ahead or backwards to some other place in the program and to carry on executing from there. These are called "jump" instructions (or branches). Furthermore, jump instructions may be made to happen conditionally so that different sequences of instructions may be used depending on the result of some previous calculation or some external event. Many computers directly support subroutines by providing a type of jump that "remembers" the location it jumped from and another instruction to return to the instruction following that jump instruction.

Program execution might be likened to reading a book. While a person will normally read each word and line in sequence, they may at times jump back to an earlier place in the text or skip sections that are not of interest. Similarly, a computer may sometimes go back and repeat the instructions in some section of the program over and over again until some internal condition is met. This is called the flow of control within the program and it is what allows the computer to perform tasks repeatedly without human intervention.

Comparatively, a person using a pocket calculator can perform a basic arithmetic operation such as adding two numbers with just a few button presses. But to add together all of the numbers from 1 to 1,000 would take thousands of button presses and a lot of time—with a near certainty of making a mistake. On the other hand, a computer may be programmed to do this with just a few simple instructions. For example:

mov #0, sum ; set sum to 0
mov #1, num ; set num to 1
loop: add num, sum ; add num to sum
add #1, num ; add 1 to num
cmp num, #1000 ; compare num to 1000
ble loop ; if num <= 1000, go back to 'loop' halt ; end of program. stop running Once told to run this program, the computer will perform the repetitive addition task without further human intervention. It will almost never make a mistake and a modern PC can complete the task in about a millionth of a second.[16] However, computers cannot "think" for themselves in the sense that they only solve problems in exactly the way they are programmed to. An intelligent human faced with the above addition task might soon realize that instead of actually adding up all the numbers one can simply use the equation 1+2+3+...+n = {{n(n+1)} \over 2} and arrive at the correct answer (500,500) with little work.[17] In other words, a computer programmed to add up the numbers one by one as in the example above would do exactly that without regard to efficiency or alternative solutions. Programs A 1970s punched card containing one line from a FORTRAN program. The card reads: "Z(1) = Y + W(1)" and is labelled "PROJ039" for identification purposes. In practical terms, a computer program may be just a few instructions or extend to many millions of instructions, as do the programs for word processors and web browsers for example. A typical modern computer can execute billions of instructions per second (gigaflops) and rarely make a mistake over many years of operation. Large computer programs consisting of several million instructions may take teams of programmers years to write, and due to the complexity of the task almost certainly contain errors. Errors in computer programs are called "bugs". Bugs may be benign and not affect the usefulness of the program, or have only subtle effects. But in some cases they may cause the program to "hang"—become unresponsive to input such as mouse clicks or keystrokes, or to completely fail or "crash". Otherwise benign bugs may sometimes may be harnessed for malicious intent by an unscrupulous user writing an "exploit"—code designed to take advantage of a bug and disrupt a computer's proper execution. Bugs are usually not the fault of the computer. Since computers merely execute the instructions they are given, bugs are nearly always the result of programmer error or an oversight made in the program's design.[18] In most computers, individual instructions are stored as machine code with each instruction being given a unique number (its operation code or opcode for short). The command to add two numbers together would have one opcode, the command to multiply them would have a different opcode and so on. The simplest computers are able to perform any of a handful of different instructions; the more complex computers have several hundred to choose from—each with a unique numerical code. Since the computer's memory is able to store numbers, it can also store the instruction codes. This leads to the important fact that entire programs (which are just lists of these instructions) can be represented as lists of numbers and can themselves be manipulated inside the computer in the same way as numeric data. The fundamental concept of storing programs in the computer's memory alongside the data they operate on is the crux of the von Neumann, or stored program, architecture. In some cases, a computer might store some or all of its program in memory that is kept separate from the data it operates on. This is called the Harvard architecture after the Harvard Mark I computer. Modern von Neumann computers display some traits of the Harvard architecture in their designs, such as in CPU caches. While it is possible to write computer programs as long lists of numbers (machine language) and while this technique was used with many early computers,[19] it is extremely tedious and potentially error-prone to do so in practice, especially for complicated programs. Instead, each basic instruction can be given a short name that is indicative of its function and easy to remember—a mnemonic such as ADD, SUB, MULT or JUMP. These mnemonics are collectively known as a computer's assembly language. Converting programs written in assembly language into something the computer can actually understand (machine language) is usually done by a computer program called an assembler. Machine languages and the assembly languages that represent them (collectively termed low-level programming languages) tend to be unique to a particular type of computer. For instance, an ARM architecture computer (such as may be found in a PDA or a hand-held videogame) cannot understand the machine language of an Intel Pentium or the AMD Athlon 64 computer that might be in a PC.[20] Though considerably easier than in machine language, writing long programs in assembly language is often difficult and is also error prone. Therefore, most practical programs are written in more abstract high-level programming languages that are able to express the needs of the programmer more conveniently (and thereby help reduce programmer error). High level languages are usually "compiled" into machine language (or sometimes into assembly language and then into machine language) using another computer program called a compiler.[21] High level languages are less related to the workings of the target computer than assembly language, and more related to the language and structure of the problem(s) to be solved by the final program. It is therefore often possible to use different compilers to translate the same high level language program into the machine language of many different types of computer. This is part of the means by which software like video games may be made available for different computer architectures such as personal computers and various video game consoles. The task of developing large software systems presents a significant intellectual challenge. Producing software with an acceptably high reliability within a predictable schedule and budget has historically been difficult; the academic and professional discipline of software engineering concentrates specifically on this challenge. Example A traffic light showing red Suppose a computer is being employed to operate a traffic light at an intersection between two streets. The computer has the following three basic instructions. 1. ON(Streetname, Color) Turns the light on Streetname with a specified Color on. 2. OFF(Streetname, Color) Turns the light on Streetname with a specified Color off. 3. WAIT(Seconds) Waits a specifed number of seconds. 4. START Starts the program 5. REPEAT Tells the computer to repeat a specified part of the program in a loop. Comments are marked with a // on the left margin. Comments in a computer program do not affect the operation of the program. They are not evaluated by the computer. Assume the streetnames are Broadway and Main.



The Jacquard loom, on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, England, was one of the first programmable devices.

The first use of the word "computer" was recorded in 1613, referring to a person who carried out calculations, or computations, and the word continued to be used in that sense until the middle of the 20th century. From the end of the 19th century onwards though, the word began to take on its more familiar meaning, describing a machine that carries out computations.[3]

The history of the modern computer begins with two separate technologies—automated calculation and programmability—but no single device can be identified as the earliest computer, partly because of the inconsistent application of that term. Examples of early mechanical calculating devices include the abacus, the slide rule and arguably the astrolabe and the Antikythera mechanism (which dates from about 150–100 BC). Hero of Alexandria (c. 10–70 AD) built a mechanical theater which performed a play lasting 10 minutes and was operated by a complex system of ropes and drums that might be considered to be a means of deciding which parts of the mechanism performed which actions and when.[4] This is the essence of programmability.

The "castle clock", an astronomical clock invented by Al-Jazari in 1206, is considered to be the earliest programmable analog computer.[5] It displayed the zodiac, the solar and lunar orbits, a crescent moon-shaped pointer travelling across a gateway causing automatic doors to open every hour,[6][7] and five robotic musicians who played music when struck by levers operated by a camshaft attached to a water wheel. The length of day and night could be re-programmed to compensate for the changing lengths of day and night throughout the year.[5]

The Renaissance saw a re-invigoration of European mathematics and engineering. Wilhelm Schickard's 1623 device was the first of a number of mechanical calculators constructed by European engineers, but none fit the modern definition of a computer, because they could not be programmed.

In 1801, Joseph Marie Jacquard made an improvement to the textile loom by introducing a series of punched paper cards as a template which allowed his loom to weave intricate patterns automatically. The resulting Jacquard loom was an important step in the development of computers because the use of punched cards to define woven patterns can be viewed as an early, albeit limited, form of

It was the fusion of automatic calculation with programmability that produced the first recognizable computers. In 1837, Charles Babbage was the first to conceptualize and design a fully programmable mechanical computer, his analytical engine.[8] Limited finances and Babbage's inability to resist tinkering with the design meant that the device was never completed.

In the late 1880s, Herman Hollerith invented the recording of data on a machine readable medium. Prior uses of machine readable media, above, had been for control, not data. "After some initial trials with paper tape, he settled on punched cards ..."[9] To process these punched cards he invented the tabulator, and the keypunch machines. These three inventions were the foundation of the modern information processing industry. Large-scale automated data processing of punched cards was performed for the 1890 United States Census by Hollerith's company, which later became the core of IBM. By the end of the 19th century a number of technologies that would later prove useful in the realization of practical computers had begun to appear: the punched card, Boolean algebra, the vacuum tube (thermionic valve) and the teleprinter.

During the first half of the 20th century, many scientific computing needs were met by increasingly sophisticated analog computers, which used a direct mechanical or electrical model of the problem as a basis for computation. However, these were not programmable and generally lacked the versatility and accuracy of modern digital computers.

Alan Turing is widely regarded to be the father of modern computer science. In 1936 Turing provided an influential formalisation of the concept of the algorithm and computation with the Turing machine. Of his role in the modern computer, Time magazine in naming Turing one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, states: "The fact remains that everyone who taps at a keyboard, opening a spreadsheet or a word-processing program, is working on an incarnation of a Turing machine".[10]

The inventor of the program-controlled computer was Konrad Zuse, who built the first working computer in 1941 and later in 1955 the first computer based on magnetic storage.[11]

George Stibitz is internationally recognized as a father of the modern digital computer. While working at Bell Labs in November 1937, Stibitz invented and built a relay-based calculator he dubbed the "Model K" (for "kitchen table", on which he had assembled it), which was the first to use binary circuits to perform an arithmetic operation. Later models added greater sophistication including complex arithmetic and programmability.[12]
Defining characteristics of some early digital computers of the 1940s (In the history of computing hardware) Name First operational Numeral system Computing mechanism Programming Turing complete
Zuse Z3 (Germany) May 1941 Binary Electro-mechanical Program-controlled by punched film stock (but no conditional branch) Yes (1998)
Atanasoff–Berry Computer (US) 1942 Binary Electronic Not programmable—single purpose No
Colossus Mark 1 (UK) February 1944 Binary E

Save as Draft

lectronic Program-controlled by patch cables and switches No
Harvard Mark I – IBM ASCC (US) May 1944 Decimal Electro-mechanical Program-controlled by 24-channel punched paper tape (but no conditional branch) No
Colossus Mark 2 (UK) June 1944 Binary Electronic Program-controlled by patch cables and switches No
ENIAC (US) July 1946 Decimal Electronic Program-controlled by patch cables and switches Yes
Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (Baby) (UK) June 1948 Binary Electronic Stored-program in Williams cathode ray tube memory Yes
Modified ENIAC (US) September 1948 Decimal Electronic Program-controlled by patch cables and switches plus a primitive read-only stored programming mechanism using the Function Tables as program ROM Yes
EDSAC (UK) May 1949 Binary Electronic Stored-program in mercury delay line memory Yes
Manchester Mark 1 (UK) October 1949 Binary Electronic Stored-program in Williams cathode ray tube memory and magnetic drum memory Yes
CSIRAC (Australia) November 1949 Binary Electronic Stored-program in mercury delay line memory Yes

A succession of steadily more powerful and flexible computing devices were constructed in the 1930s and 1940s, gradually adding the key features that are seen in modern computers. The use of digital electronics (largely invented by Claude Shannon in 1937) and more flexible programmability were vitally important steps, but defining one point along this road as "the first digital electronic computer" is difficult.Shannon 1940 Notable achievements include:
EDSAC was one of the first computers to implement the stored program (von Neumann) architecture.
Die of an Intel 80486DX2 microprocessor (actual size: 12×6.75 mm) in its packaging.

* Konrad Zuse's electromechanical "Z machines". The Z3 (1941) was the first working machine featuring binary arithmetic, including floating point arithmetic and a measure of programmability. In 1998 the Z3 was proved to be Turing complete, therefore being the world's first operational computer.[13]
* The non-programmable Atanasoff–Berry Computer (1941) which used vacuum tube based computation, binary numbers, and regenerative capacitor memory. The use of regenerative memory allowed it to be much more compact than its peers (being approximately the size of a large desk or workbench), since intermediate results could be stored and then fed back into the same set of computation elements.
* The secret British Colossus computers (1943),[14] which had limited programmability but demonstrated that a device using thousands of tubes could be reasonably reliable and electronically reprogrammable. It was used for breaking German wartime codes.
* The Harvard Mark I (1944), a large-scale electromechanical computer with limited programmability.
* The U.S. Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory ENIAC (1946), which used decimal arithmetic and is sometimes called the first general purpose electronic computer (since Konrad Zuse's Z3 of 1941 used electromagnets instead of electronics). Initially, however, ENIAC had an inflexible architecture which essentially required rewiring to change its programming.

Several developers of ENIAC, recognizing its flaws, came up with a far more flexible and elegant design, which came to be known as the "stored program architecture" or von Neumann architecture. This design was first formally described by John von Neumann in the paper First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, distributed in 1945. A number of projects to develop computers based on the stored-program architecture commenced around this time, the first of these being completed in Great Britain. The first to be demonstrated working was the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM or "Baby"), while the EDSAC, completed a year after SSEM, was the first practical implementation of the stored program design. Shortly thereafter, the machine originally described by von Neumann's paper—EDVAC—was completed but did not see full-time use for an additional two years.

Nearly all modern computers implement some form of the stored-program architecture, making it the single trait by which the word "computer" is now defined. While the technologies used in computers have changed dramatically since the first electronic, general-purpose computers of the 1940s, most still use the von Neumann architecture.

Beginning in the 1950s, Soviet scientists Sergei Sobolev and Nikolay Brusentsov conducted research on ternary computers, devices that operated on a base three numbering system of -1, 0, and 1 rather than the conventional binary numbering system upon which most computers are based. They designed the Setun, a functional ternary computer, at Moscow State University. The device was put into limited production in the Soviet Union, but supplanted by the more common binary architecture.

Computers using vacuum tubes as their electronic elements were in use throughout the 1950s, but by the 1960s had been largely replaced by transistor-based machines, which were smaller, faster, cheaper to produce, required less power, and were more reliable. The first transistorised computer was demonstrated at the University of Manchester in 1953.[15] In the 1970s, integrated circuit technology and the subsequent creation of microprocessors, such as the Intel 4004, further decreased size and cost and further increased speed and reliability of computers. By the late 1970s, many products such as video recorders contained dedicated computers called microcontrollers, and they started to appear as a replacement to mechanical controls in domestic appliances such as washing machines. The 1980s witnessed home computers and the now ubiquitous personal computer. With the evolution of the Internet, personal computers are becoming as common as the television and the telephone in the household[citation needed].

Modern smartphones are fully programmable computers in their own right, and as of 2009 may well be the most common form of such computers in existence[citation needed].
Stored program architecture
Main articles: Computer program and Computer programming

The defining feature of modern computers which distinguishes them from all other machines is that they can be programmed. That is to say that a list of instructions (the program) can be given to the computer and it will store them and carry them out at some time in the future.

In most cases, computer instructions are simple: add one number to another, move some data from one location to another, send a message to some external device, etc. These instructions are read from the computer's memory and are generally carried out (executed) in the order they were given. However, there are usually specialized instructions to tell the computer to jump ahead or backwards to some other place in the program and to carry on executing from there. These are called "jump" instructions (or branches). Furthermore, jump instructions may be made to happen conditionally so that different sequences of instructions may be used depending on the result of some previous calculation or some external event. Many computers directly support subroutines by providing a type of jump that "remembers" the location it jumped from and another instruction to return to the instruction following that jump instruction.

Program execution might be likened to reading a book. While a person will normally read each word and line in sequence, they may at times jump back to an earlier place in the text or skip sections that are not of interest. Similarly, a computer may sometimes go back and repeat the instructions in some section of the program over and over again until some internal condition is met. This is called the flow of control within the program and it is what allows the computer to perform tasks repeatedly without human intervention.

Comparatively, a person using a pocket calculator can perform a basic arithmetic operation such as adding two numbers with just a few button presses. But to add together all of the numbers from 1 to 1,000 would take thousands of button presses and a lot of time—with a near certainty of making a mistake. On the other hand, a computer may be programmed to do this with just a few simple instructions. For example:

mov #0, sum ; set sum to 0
mov #1, num ; set num to 1
loop: add num, sum ; add num to sum
add #1, num ; add 1 to num
cmp num, #1000 ; compare num to 1000
ble loop ; if num <= 1000, go back to 'loop' halt ; end of program. stop running Once told to run this program, the computer will perform the repetitive addition task without further human intervention. It will almost never make a mistake and a modern PC can complete the task in about a millionth of a second.[16] However, computers cannot "think" for themselves in the sense that they only solve problems in exactly the way they are programmed to. An intelligent human faced with the above addition task might soon realize that instead of actually adding up all the numbers one can simply use the equation 1+2+3+...+n = {{n(n+1)} \over 2} and arrive at the correct answer (500,500) with little work.[17] In other words, a computer programmed to add up the numbers one by one as in the example above would do exactly that without regard to efficiency or alternative solutions. Programs A 1970s punched card containing one line from a FORTRAN program. The card reads: "Z(1) = Y + W(1)" and is labelled "PROJ039" for identification purposes. In practical terms, a computer program may be just a few instructions or extend to many millions of instructions, as do the programs for word processors and web browsers for example. A typical modern computer can execute billions of instructions per second (gigaflops) and rarely make a mistake over many years of operation. Large computer programs consisting of several million instructions may take teams of programmers years to write, and due to the complexity of the task almost certainly contain errors. Errors in computer programs are called "bugs". Bugs may be benign and not affect the usefulness of the program, or have only subtle effects. But in some cases they may cause the program to "hang"—become unresponsive to input such as mouse clicks or keystrokes, or to completely fail or "crash". Otherwise benign bugs may sometimes may be harnessed for malicious intent by an unscrupulous user writing an "exploit"—code designed to take advantage of a bug and disrupt a computer's proper execution. Bugs are usually not the fault of the computer. Since computers merely execute the instructions they are given, bugs are nearly always the result of programmer error or an oversight made in the program's design.[18] In most computers, individual instructions are stored as machine code with each instruction being given a unique number (its operation code or opcode for short). The command to add two numbers together would have one opcode, the command to multiply them would have a different opcode and so on. The simplest computers are able to perform any of a handful of different instructions; the more complex computers have several hundred to choose from—each with a unique numerical code. Since the computer's memory is able to store numbers, it can also store the instruction codes. This leads to the important fact that entire programs (which are just lists of these instructions) can be represented as lists of numbers and can themselves be manipulated inside the computer in the same way as numeric data. The fundamental concept of storing programs in the computer's memory alongside the data they operate on is the crux of the von Neumann, or stored program, architecture. In some cases, a computer might store some or all of its program in memory that is kept separate from the data it operates on. This is called the Harvard architecture after the Harvard Mark I computer. Modern von Neumann computers display some traits of the Harvard architecture in their designs, such as in CPU caches. While it is possible to write computer programs as long lists of numbers (machine language) and while this technique was used with many early computers,[19] it is extremely tedious and potentially error-prone to do so in practice, especially for complicated programs. Instead, each basic instruction can be given a short name that is indicative of its function and easy to remember—a mnemonic such as ADD, SUB, MULT or JUMP. These mnemonics are collectively known as a computer's assembly language. Converting programs written in assembly language into something the computer can actually understand (machine language) is usually done by a computer program called an assembler. Machine languages and the assembly languages that represent them (collectively termed low-level programming languages) tend to be unique to a particular type of computer. For instance, an ARM architecture computer (such as may be found in a PDA or a hand-held videogame) cannot understand the machine language of an Intel Pentium or the AMD Athlon 64 computer that might be in a PC.[20] Though considerably easier than in machine language, writing long programs in assembly language is often difficult and is also error prone. Therefore, most practical programs are written in more abstract high-level programming languages that are able to express the needs of the programmer more conveniently (and thereby help reduce programmer error). High level languages are usually "compiled" into machine language (or sometimes into assembly language and then into machine language) using another computer program called a compiler.[21] High level languages are less related to the workings of the target computer than assembly language, and more related to the language and structure of the problem(s) to be solved by the final program. It is therefore often possible to use different compilers to translate the same high level language program into the machine language of many different types of computer. This is part of the means by which software like video games may be made available for different computer architectures such as personal computers and various video game consoles. The task of developing large software systems presents a significant intellectual challenge. Producing software with an acceptably high reliability within a predictable schedule and budget has historically been difficult; the academic and professional discipline of software engineering concentrates specifically on this challenge. Example A traffic light showing red Suppose a computer is being employed to operate a traffic light at an intersection between two streets. The computer has the following three basic instructions. 1. ON(Streetname, Color) Turns the light on Streetname with a specified Color on. 2. OFF(Streetname, Color) Turns the light on Streetname with a specified Color off. 3. WAIT(Seconds) Waits a specifed number of seconds. 4. START Starts the program 5. REPEAT Tells the computer to repeat a specified part of the program in a loop. Comments are marked with a // on the left margin. Comments in a computer program do not affect the operation of the program. They are not evaluated by the computer. Assume the streetnames are Broadway and Main.<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gas2Xi0rW6A?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gas2Xi0rW6A?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

Read more »

IBM System z and mainframe systems

- CICS (Customer Information Control System) is an online transaction processing program from IBM that, together with the programming language, has formed over the past several decades the most common set of tools for building customer transaction applications in the world of large computing. A great number of the still in use are COBOL/CICS applications. Using the application programming interface ( provided by CICS, a programmer can write programs that communicate with online users and read from or write to customer and other records (orders, inventory figures, customer data, and so forth) in a database (usually referred to as "data sets") using CICS facilities rather than IBM's access methods directly. Like other transaction managers, CICS can ensure that transactions are completed and, if not, undo partly completed transactions so that the integrity of data records is maintained.
IBM markets or supports a CICS product for , and Intel PC operating systems. Some of IBM's customers use IBM's Transaction Server to handle transactions from Internet users and forward these to a mainframe server that accesses an existing CICS order and inventory database.

Learn more about IBM System z and mainframe systems

: Ensure the success of your mainframe migration strategy with best practices for migrating, regenerating or replacing mainframe applications.
: Organizations typically defer upgrades during a down economy, but cost-effective mainframe upgrades can be key to your company's competitive advantage.
: A network-based data security approach is no longer suitable in today's world and we should look to the mainframe as a potential information security hub, says an expert.
: The modern mainframe: This isn't your gramps' Big Iron. Mainframe management has evolved dramatically over the past few years.
: The CICS dump table feature can be useful for diagnosing and managing problems in online systems when the information you need isn't available through default channels.
: Are mainframe software costs too high or does software productivity and reduced labor costs lead to lower mainframe total cost of ownership (TCO)?
: Using transaction classes is a great way to manage CICS workloads that come in unpredictable increments. Learn how to use transaction classes and get examples in this tip.<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NIc5gRvbNGg?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NIc5gRvbNGg?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Read more »

Information Technology's Role Today

Every day, people use computers in new ways. Computers are increasingly affordable; they continue to be more powerful as information-processing tools as well as easier to use.

Computers in Business One of the first and largest applications of computers is keeping and managing business and financial records. Most large companies keep the employment records of all their workers in large databases that are managed by computer programs. Similar programs and databases are used in such business functions as billing customers; tracking payments received and payments to be made; and tracking supplies needed and items produced, stored, shipped, and sold. In fact, practically all the information companies need to do business involves the use of computers and information technology.

On a smaller scale, many businesses have replaced cash registers with point-of-sale (POS) terminals. These POS terminals not only print a sales receipt for the customer but also send information to a computer database when each item is sold to maintain an inventory of items on hand and items to be ordered. Computers have also become very important in modern factories. Computer-controlled robots now do tasks that are hot, heavy, or hazardous. Robots are also used to do routine, repetitive tasks in which boredom or fatigue can lead to poor quality work.

Computers in Medicine Information technology plays an important role in medicine. For example, a scanner takes a series of pictures of the body by means of computerized axial tomography (CAT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A computer then combines the pictures to produce detailed three-dimensional images of the body's organs. In addition, the MRI produces images that show changes in body chemistry and blood flow.

Computers in Science and Engineering Using supercomputers, meteorologists predict future weather by using a combination of observations of weather conditions from many sources, a mathematical representation of the behavior of the atmosphere, and geographic data.

Computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing programs, often called CAD/CAM, have led to improved products in many fields, especially where designs tend to be very detailed. Computer programs make it possible for engineers to analyze designs of complex structures such as power plants and space stations.

Integrated Information Systems With today's sophisticated hardware, software, and communications technologies, it is often difficult to classify a system as belonging uniquely to one specific application program. Organizations increasingly are consolidating their information needs into a single, integrated information system. One example is SAP, a German software package that runs on mainframe computers and provides an enterprise-wide solution for information technologies. It is a powerful database that enables companies to organize all their data into a single database, then choose only the program modules or tables they want. The freestanding modules are customized to fit each customer's needs.
<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZYAhS04KL0Q?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZYAhS04KL0Q?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

Read more »

iPad Mini

According to the reports from DigiTimes, Apple Inc. might be launching their latest models of iPad come Q4 of 2010. Rumor also has it that the new models will include 7-inch as well as 5.6-inch models based on OLED.Based on the sources, the company recently ordered from their factory based in Taiwan so that the gadgets will be delivered during this year’s fourth quarter and Q1 of 2011. This includes not only the rumored 7-inch and 5.6-inch models but also the 9.7-inch at the same time.
The current iPad model will have a couple of changes on the new shipment since Apple Inc. has just included CMI or Chimei Innolux as one of the suppliers for the gadget’s panels.
The purpose of delivering smaller iPads is to give more options for all the e-book readers. Currently, the 9.7-inch models are after the multimedia entertainment rather than the e-book readers.
However, the research analyst from DIgiTimes have doubts regarding this rumor. Mingchi Kuo said that the current dominant manufacturer of OLED, Samsung, can’t even meet the demands for their OLED-based products. At the same time, Mingchi Kuo also said that it would be impossible for Apple to produce enough new iPads in time for their target quarters.
But even if there are already thousands of rumors that OLED displays will be made available to the devices of Apple Inc., these still remains to be rumors still. It was only last April when DigiTimes gave the company and its readers the idea that it would be great for the second-generation iPads to have an OLED display. Unfortunately, considering various issues such as production volume and the pricing, it would be impossible to do this project as soon as possible. Moreover, during the same month, there were also reports from DigiTimes that Apple Inc. is planning to push this project through by the first quarter of 2011, not the rumored 2010′s Q4.

Read more »

Four New IPhone 4 Apps

The latest Apple iPhone 4 apps are starting to become more convenient. From flash to hearing the waves roar, they keep rolling out from the developers. Read more here on the latest iPhone 4 apps and see if one interests you.

A brand new programmer at the tender age of 15 has a creative new app for the iPhone 4. It is called the “Strobe Pro” app. It does pretty much what its name describes. It makes the LED on the back of the iPhone 4 flash at various speeds. You get slow, medium, fast and “really fast”. What is this useful for ? It could be used to help you find your keys at night. It could be used to startle a would-be robber. It could be used for a regular flashlight. The Strobe Pro can be used with or without the camera. The cost ? It is 99 cents in the iTunes store.

Another iPhone 4 app that many will like is “Auto Adjust”. This is another personally-developed app that makes dull photos bright again. If you have ever taken a photo around sunset or sunrise outside, you know how dark they can be. If they are too dark for your liking, you can download this app from the iTunes store and make them look normal. Auto Adjust is also equipped with color correction features that make it more attractive. It works with images of any size if you use this with an iPad. IPhone users are limited to images less than 1600 by 1200 pixels. The price on this app is also 99 cents.

One very popular iPhone 4 app you may not have heard of yet is “Ambiance”, by Urban Apps. This one is categorized an “environment enhancer”. It is similar to a mood light, but works for your ears. There are over 1000 sounds in the Ambiance iPhone app that you can play. It creates an atmosphere that you choose with a background sound. New sounds are being added constantly. The app will only download the sounds you want and the download is free. You will have to pay your carrier for normal file downloads if you are using their network. You can categorize sounds, customize alarms and create playlists. This is an award-winning app and costs $2.99 dollars.

Last but not least is the Twitter iPhone 4 app. This is a free app by the ever-popular web site called Twitter. You are connected in real time to anyone in the world, thanks to their new app. You can update, share graphics and video, send DMs and more. This Twitter app has the “trending” feature, so users are kept up to date on what is going on in the world. You will need to have your own Twitter account to use this app. It not only works with iPhone 4, it also works with iPad and iTouch.

There will be great deal more iPhone 4 apps coming out this year. Apple and Google both are cranking them out furiously. The time has probably already arrived that anyone can find at least one app they like for their new iPhone at the iTunes store.
designed by sabir

Read more »

Exploit of Computer

Exploit of Computer Attackers Targets Unpatched Windows Vulnerability

Computer software attackers are never going to give up. Lately, Microsoft announced that a new exploit is being used by computer attackers that targets the un-patched Windows vulnerability using infected USB flash drives… ouch!

The good thing is that the bug only effects the Windows XP community and those of you who are still using the lame OS, just got another reason to upgrade to Windows 7. Microsoft already retired its support for Windows XP series and even if the bug is addressed, it will not a providing a patch for the machines that are still running Windows XP SP2.

A Director at Microsoft Trustworthy computing group – Dave Forstorm said that the newly discovered exploit has been found to be working in conjunction with the Stuxnet malware. The threat poses as limited targeted attack but Microsoft has a record of 6,000 attempts that were made by this very own bug to breach system security of various PCs.

According to experts at Windows HQ, the new bug has originated because Windows XP fails to parse shortcut files, identified by the “Lnk” extension. The threat has been declared “nasty” by experts at the Sophos Antivirus offices.

Microsoft said that it is possible for users to block attacks. It can be done by means of turning off the WebClient service as well as disabling the displaying of shortcuts. It should be taken into consideration that both moves need editing the Windows registry. But due to disabling shortcut files, it will be more difficult to open documents as well as launch programs.

In fact, Windows XP XX users need to upgrade to SP3 or they need to go for latter version of Windows to get rid of this problem, once and for all.

Read more »