Some good ideas on how to create strong passwords. This is becoming an increasingly important topic.

From the Kim Komando web site:

Make your passwords unbreakable but memorable

MVPS HOSTS File for June Available Now

This is the last time I will post such a reminder. Those of you who are now using the MVPS HOSTS file should know that a new version is made available on a monthly basis, and these days you need to go look for it. I suggest you bookmark this web site, http://msmvps.com/blogs/hostsnews/default.aspx and go check it out near the beginning of each month until you see the new version available. You can download it right from this site.

The MVPS HOSTS file is an integral part of my recommended security suite and, as with all the other pieces of that pie, this is free.

Google to Release Chrome OS in Fourth Quarter

from pcworld.com:

"Google plans to release its Chrome operating system late this year, initially targeting laptop users, the head of the project said Wednesday.
The Chrome OS "will be offered to users in the fourth quarter," said Sundar Pichai, Google's vice president of product management, during a speech at the Computex electronics exhibition in Taipei.

The statement appears to push back earlier talk of a third-quarter launch for the OS, which is expected to compete with Microsoft's Windows 7 as well as other OSes.
The Chrome Web Store will open at the same time so people can download Web applications that can be installed on the Chrome OS, he added.
"For Chrome OS, we are focused on laptops for this year," he said at a news conference later in the day.

The company designed Chrome OS for clamshell devices with touchpads, keyboards and screens between 10 inches and 12 inches across, he said, clarifying that anything, including netbooks, that fits the hardware specifications will have an easy time gaining Google certification.

Certification by the company is meant to ensure hardware makers create a quality device for users.
Initially, Chrome OS will limit certain customization such as user interfaces that some Taiwanese laptop makers are planning, but over time more customization will be allowed. "So, yes to UIs, but later," he said.

Opinion: RIP PC - Apple is on top, and the time of the PC is ended

An opinion piece from computerworld.com:

Computerworld - On May 26, Apple's market capitalization stood at $223 billion. That took it, for the first time, higher than Microsoft, which had a market cap of $219.3 billion. Apple, not Microsoft, not Google, was at the top of the technology business mountain. And that marked the end of an era: The PC is no longer the center of the computing universe. 

The PC: August 12, 1981 -- May 26, 2010. RIP.

The powerhouse of the computing revolution was born when IBM released the first IBM PC in August 1981. It died when Apple took the market lead from Microsoft.

Yes, of course, there were PCs before the IBM PC. I used Zilog Z-80-based microcomputers running CP/M back in the late '70s. But it was the IBM PC that moved PCs from things that only computer fans would use to essential parts of most business offices.

 More click here

Memorial Day 2010

"...gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with choicest flowers of springtime....let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us as sacred charges upon the Nation's gratitude,--the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan." --General John Logan, General Order No. 11, 5 May 1868

The "Memorial" in Memorial Day has been ignored by too many of us who are beneficiaries of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. Often we do not observe the day as it should be, a day where we actively remember our ancestors, our family members, our loved ones, our neighbors, and our friends who have given the ultimate sacrifice:

• by visiting cemeteries and placing flags or flowers on the graves of our fallen heroes.
• by visiting memorials.
• by flying the U.S. Flag at half-staff until noon.
• by flying the 'POW/MIA Flag' as well (Section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act).
• by participating in a "National Moment of Remembrance": at 3 p.m. to pause and think upon the true meaning of the day, and for Taps to be played.
• by renewing a pledge to aid the widows, widowers, and orphans of our falled dead, and to aid the disabled veterans.

Also, please consider adding your voice in support of the efforts to restore the traditional day of observance of Memorial Day back to May 30th (instead of "the last Monday in May"). This would help greatly to return the solemn meaning back to the day, and to help return minds and hearts to think upon the ultimate sacrifices made by those in service to our country. Just one day out of the year to honor our loved ones, our ancestors, our friends who died in conflicts and wars -- not to honor war, but those that died in those conflicts and wars. I receive many emails from people expressing their thanks for those who have served and gave the ultimate sacrifice for this country. The following, received in 1999 and used with the author's permission, sums up all the emails I have received very elegantly, and is true to the original spirit and meaning of Memorial Day.

"This weekend I am going to do something different. I am going to buy some carnations each day and go to one of the nearby cemetaries and walk through the sections for soldiers. When I find a grave that has no flowers, I'll leave one and say a prayer for the family of that person, who for some reason could not bring their soldier flowers. I will pray for our country and all who serve or have served. For their families, who also serve by losing precious days, weeks and months spent with their loved ones who are off serving, preserving peace and the freedom we have in this country. I'll pray for the families who paid the ultimate price, who's loved ones died, or were taken captive and never returned. I'll pray for anyone who may still be held in captivity and thinks perhaps they are forgotten. I do NOT forget. I'll say a prayer for every person on the Internet who takes a moment from their time to come to sites like yours and be reminded of what this holiday really means. And I'll say a prayer of thanks and ask God's richest blessings on you.
Thank you again.... and God bless!
Sylvia Mohr"

No, Thank you and God Bless you, Sylvia. May more follow your example. In fact, wonderful people in other nations sometimes show more of the true spirit and mission of the U.S. Memorial Day than we do here. For example, a 2001 US Memorial Day Guestbook entry from a citizen of the Netherlands states:

"Hi, In 1999 I laid flowers at the grave of a young U.S. fighter pilot who was KIA in my village in 1945. In the Netherlands I know of schools 'adopting' graves of Allied servicemen, keeping those graves in excellent condition ! Does anybody know of adopting graves in the U.S. by schools ?
Sincerely,
Paul Patist <patist@wanadoo.nl>
Castricum, The Netherlands - Tue May 15 04:50:29 2001"

More schools in the U.S. could follow the lead of the Netherland schools. Let us take a few moments this Memorial Day to reflect on the meaning of the day, to observe the day and be mindful of the sacrifices of others before we go and