This just in from a friendly public-relations person:

Alan,

I wanted to let you know about a great new product hitting the market next week — the La Fresh Tech Pack, a compact mini travel zip-up bag that contains individual towelettes to clean all of your tech devices.

This is an easy way to keep all of your digital gadgets clean while on the go. It’s great for glasses, screens, lenses, scopes, cameras, PDAs, cell phones, laptops, gaming devices etc., etc., etc. And there’s no need for a liquid cleaner and separate applicator cloth — it’s all in one!

The La Fresh Tech Pack includes four Wet & Dry Dual Action Screen Cleaning towelette packets, three Lens Cleaning towelette packets, and three Anti-Bacterial towelette packets. All towelettes are biodegradable! The entire Tech Pack is travel friendly — it meets the TSA regulations to be carried onboard a plane. This pack is perfect for the office, computer bag, car, home, purse, or school locker.

The MSRP for the La Fresh Tech Pack is $9.99.

I could use that little dual-action screen cleaning towelette right now. The display on my Mac notebook is filthy!

Be cautious about applying any chemical to optical lenses. For those, use a soft brush or lint-free cloth. Clean wash cloths are good, as are squares cut from old, well-laundered plain white t-shirts. (White is important, because you can see if it’s dirty before you use it.)

Do not use general-purpose paper tissue (like facial tissue or toilet paper) on camera lenses or eyeglasses. Even though tissues seem soft, paper is mildly abrasive, and can damage any anti-glare coatings on the lens, or even scratch it. Even with cloth, wipe gently on the lens to remove dust or dirt. Don’t apply pressure on the glass.

My colleague Alex Handy, who serves as senior editor of our new publication, Systems Management News, has two passions. One is for old computer hardware. The other is for gaming.

Thus, imagine Alex’s delight when he came across a real find at a flea market, as he wrote about on the SysManBlog:

I made a find at the flea market that has made me something of a celebrity in the world of video gaming. I found a handful of chips at a shop stall that seem to contain some long-lost Colecovision and Atari 2600 game code. As a game collector, this was the find of a lifetime. As a lover of free and open technology, this was a chance to give something to the world as well. There is, in fact, a great deal of interest out there in finding and playing games that were never published.

Read the rest of the post, it’s fascinating, because it turns out those EPROMs he discovered were for a game that was never actually released for the Atari 2600 console… but he has the chips that says that the game was developed.

I’m not the only one who thinks this is neat: The story was picked up by the Wall Street Journal. Yesterday, Jason Fry wrote about the adventure in “A Videogame Fan’s Fantastic Find.” Here’s how Jason’s story starts — be sure to read the whole thing. You can read it online for free now, don’t know how long that’ll last.

At first glance it doesn’t seem like big news: Technology writer and videogame collector Alex Handy was at a swap meet in Oakland, Calif., when he found a bunch of EPROMs — computer memory chips — on a table covered with junk. When he got home, he saw some of the chips had handwritten labels that said “CPKPark Atari,” and one said “CPKPARK 2600 Atari.” Cryptic to most of us, but not to collectors of old videogames — for them, that notation was potentially the equivalent of stumbling across a 1955 double-die penny, a Benjamin Franklin Z-Grill stamp, or a Honus Wagner T206 baseball card.

Totally cool, eh?

Dell knows what its customers want. It knows that while most of its consumer and business customers are happy to run Windows Vista on their new desktops, notebooks and workstations, others are not.

So, despite Microsoft’s announced phase-out of Windows XP, with the sale of most new licenses ending after June 30, 2008, Dell has found a way to keep offering the software on new computers. The trick is to exercise so-called “downgrade rights” that Microsoft provided in its licenses for Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate. I’m going to quote extensively from Dell’s Web page, entitled, “Questions about Windows XP Availability? Dell has the answers!“

The page begins:

Per the Microsoft® Windows Life-Cycle policy, Direct OEM and Retail License Availability for Windows XP will End-Of-Life (EOL) on June 30, 2008. To meet Microsoft’s June 30 last-day-to-ship OEM Windows XP deadline, June 18 is the last time to purchase a Dell laptop, desktop, or workstation with an OEM Windows XP license.

After June 18th you have the option to purchase Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate with a downgrade service to Windows XP Professional. If you transition to Windows Vista, don’t transition because you have to, transition because you want to! Windows Vista has some great new features to help you become more efficient, secure and mobile — features that are not included in Windows XP.

Dell continues with a FAQ. Read carefully, this is rather complicated.

Windows Vista® Business offers new features designed to help you focus more on what’s important — your business. However, some businesses may not be ready to transition away from Windows® XP, and Dell can help ease the transition. Below are answers to some Frequently Asked Questions on this topic.

Is there any way to get Windows XP after June 30th?
Customers may continue to get Windows XP Professional by exercising Downgrade Rights that come with Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate licenses. Dell has the ability to exercise “Windows Vista downgrade rights” on your behalf in the factory if your business is still reliant upon Windows XP and you’d prefer to have Windows XP Professional preinstalled on your PCs.

So, what are Windows Vista “Downgrade Rights”?
Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate have what Microsoft calls “Downgrade Rights.” Downgrade Rights means that anyone with a Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate operating system can downgrade to Windows XP Professional provided they have the media for Windows XP Professional. Customers may use one operating system at any single point in time (cannot run both operating systems simultaneously unless an additional license is purchased). For customers who decide to exercise Downgrade Rights on their own, however, please note that Dell will only support the factory-installed operating system. Windows Vista Home Basic and Windows Vista Home Premium do not have this option, as they are not capable of downgrading to Windows XP.

What does it mean for Dell to exercise “Downgrade Rights” for me? Where can I find this option?
When you are configuring your system online or through the help of one of our sales experts, you will have the opportunity to select which operating system you would like on your PC. When selecting your operating system, you will see an option called “Genuine Windows® Vista Business BONUS” and “Genuine Windows® Vista Ultimate BONUS.” With these options, you may purchase the licensed rights to Windows Vista but have Dell factory install Windows XP Professional. You will also receive a backup media disc for Windows XP Professional as well as the media for Windows Vista so you can upgrade when you’re ready. Furthermore, with these options Dell will provide technical support for the factory-installed Windows XP Professional image and your licensed version of Windows Vista.

Can I downgrade on my own?
Yes, you can as long as you have your own Windows XP Professional media (i.e. from a prior purchase). However, Dell’s standard policy is to provide technical support on the operating system that comes pre-installed on your PC. Dell does not encourage you to change your operating system on your own as this can be a complicated process.

So, if I choose to have Dell downgrade for me, does that mean I can only get technical support on Windows XP Professional since that is what will be pre-installed?
No, with this option Dell will provide technical support on both Windows XP Professional and Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate (depending on which version you choose).

I don’t need Windows XP Professional, but I still want Windows XP Home Edition. Is there any way for me to get this from Dell?
No, Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP MCE both End-of-Life (EOL) on June 30, 2008 and do not have the capability to transition to Windows Vista (i.e. these licenses do not include Downgrade Rights provisions). Microsoft created that capability only with Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate. Windows Vista Home Basic and Windows Vista Home Premium are unable to downgrade to Windows XP.

What do I do when I’m ready to upgrade my computer to Windows Vista?
You will use the Windows Vista DVD provided to you to install Windows Vista on your computer. If you upgrade and then realize you’re not quite ready for Windows Vista yet, you also have the freedom to go back to Windows XP Professional using the Windows XP Professional CD provided with the downgrade service.

Good job, Dell! I wonder if other manufacturers will follow this lead… or if Microsoft will convince Dell to cancel this program.

Microsoft officially released Windows XP Service Pack 3 to manufacturing, and according to the company, it’s going to available on the Web on Tuesday, April 29.

It’s been about four years since Windows XP SP2 came out. What does the new version have? According to a Microsoft white paper, “Overview of Windows XP Service Pack 3,” there’s not much beyond roll-ups of previous bug fixes and security enhancements:

Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes previously released Windows XP updates, including security updates and hotfixes. It also includes select out-of-band releases, and a small number of new enhancements, which do not significantly change customers’ experience with the operating system.

Windows XP SP3 provides a new baseline for customers still deploying Windows XP. For customers with existing Windows XP installations, Windows XP SP3 fills gaps in the updates they might have missed—for example, by declining individual updates when using Automatic Updates, and updates not available through
Windows Update.

Windows XP SP3 includes all previously released Windows XP updates, including security updates and hotfixes, and select out-of-band releases. Windows XP SP2 was released in August 2004. Since then, Microsoft has released hundreds of updates. Windows XP SP3 includes all of these updates.

Microsoft is not adding significant Windows Vista functionality to Windows XP through SP3. However, SP3 does include Network Access Protection (NAP) to help organizations that use Windows XP to take advantage of new features in the Windows Server 2008 operating system.

There are seven specific areas of new functionality that Microsoft cites: “Black Hole Router” detection, Network Access Protection, Descriptive Security Options User Interface, Enhanced Security for Administrator and Service Policy Entries, Microsoft Kernel Mode Cryptographic Module and Windows Product Activation. These are described as:

“Black Hole” Router Detection: Windows XP SP3 includes improvements to black hole router detection (detecting routers that are silently discarding packets), turning it on by default.

Network Access Protection: NAP is a policy enforcement platform built into Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows XP SP3 with which you can better protect network assets by enforcing compliance with system health requirements. Using NAP, you can create customized health policies to validate computer health before allowing access or communication; automatically update compliant computers to ensure ongoing compliance; and optionally confine noncompliant computers to a restricted network until they become compliant.

Descriptive Security Options User Interface: The Security Options control panel in Windows XP SP3 now has more descriptive text to explain settings and prevent incorrect settings configuration.

Enhanced security for Administrator and Service policy entries: In System Center Essentials for Windows XP SP3, Administrator and Service entries will be present by default on any new instance of policy. Additionally, the user interface for the Impersonate Client After Authentication user right will not be able to remove these settings.

Microsoft Kernel Mode Cryptographic Module: Fips.sys is a FIPS 140-1 Level 1–compliant, general purpose, software-based, cryptographic module in the kernel mode level of the Windows operating system. It runs as a kernel mode export driver (a kernel-mode DLL) and encapsulates several different cryptographic algorithms in an easy-to-use cryptographic module accessible by other kernel mode drivers. It can be linked to other kernel mode services to permit the use of FIPS 140-1 Level 1–compliant cryptography.

Windows Product Activation: As in Windows Server 2003 SP2 and Windows Vista, users can now complete operating system installation without providing a product key during a full, integrated installation of Windows XP SP3. The operating system will prompt the user for a product key later as part of Genuine Advantage. As with previous service packs, no product key is requested or required when installing Windows XP SP3 using the update package available through Microsoft Update. Note: This update affects the installation media only and is not a change to how activation works in Windows XP.

I’m glad they’re not messing with the activation protocol — it’s bad enough already.

It’s sure nice of the former governor of the Delta State in Nigeria to write me offering to bring me all this profit. Yet somehow, I doubt that it’s really Chief James Ibori writing to one of our info@ email accounts.

Subject: LETTER OF INTENT!

Goodday , I am looking for your cooperation in building a Tourist Hotel or Real Estate in your country. I am sorry if this is not in line with your business.

I need an experienced person like you to assist me to set up , develop the project and assume responsibility of ownership as chairman but will be bringing in profit /distribute profit monthly or annually. I shall give you more info. Please contact me at my private email.

Governor James Ibori

Here I am at STPCon, the Software Test & Performance Conference, and we’re shooting great video with a $140 video camera.

I purchased the Flip Ultra video camera in January, after I asked a friend of mine – a professional videographer – what I should buy. I’m not good at video, not by any standard, probably because my real interest is in still photography.

Yet, increasingly, I can’t ignore video. Professionally, journalists are posting video interviews on the Internet, and we need to start doing that too. More importantly, I wanted to share videos of my son’s music performances with family via YouTube.

I told my friend that I wanted the equivalent of a point-and-shoot camera, but which did video. (My Canon PowerShot S2 IS still camera shoots video, but it’s too complicated.) He recommended the 60-minute Flip Ultra, and I bought one from Amazon in early January for $165. The price has since fallen to about $140.

It’s about as easy to use as one could imagine. There’s a power switch. There’s a big red button that starts and stops recording. You can push arrow buttons to digitally zoom in and out. A built-in USB connector lets you mount the device as a drive on your Mac or Windows laptop, and suck the videos out by drag-and-drop.

I’m delighted with the Flip Video, and we’re even using it this week at STPCon to cover keynotes and do interviews with speakers and attendees. It’s great that I can hand the camera to one of our conference staff, and they can figure it out instantly.

What do I like about the Flip Video?

• It is super easy to use, and requires no training
• The videos come out in a format where you can upload them right to YouTube
• It’s small enough to stick into my pocket
• It has good resolution (640×480, 30 frames/second)
• It holds an hour worth of video
• The sound and video quality is pretty good
• It has a tripod mount, which really improves video quality
• It uses AA cells, instead of rechargeable batteries
• It only costs $140 for the 60-minute version
• It comes in fun colors (but I bought the boring black one)

What don’t I like?

• I wish it had more zoom capability
• I wish that it used plug-in memory cards, to give it more capacity
• I wish that it had a mode for recording audio only

In short: Recommended if you’re looking for a point-and-shoot video camera.

Not recommended if you want advanced features, such as optical zoom, more than one hour of recording, remote control, integrated lighting source, multi-speed record, higher video resolution, titling/special effects, support for external microphones or removable film cards.

By the way, David Pogue reviewed the Flip Video for the New York Times on March 20. I agree with his assessment of the product.

There are many wonderful children’s books written to help young people deal with terrible things in their lives.

Books help kids cope with the loss of a loved one, such a parent, grandparent, sibling, friend. Books help children understand cancer and strokes. Books helps kids relate to the handicapped, or to the loss of a pet, or to natural disasters.

These books are blessings to parents, family and teachers.

And now, there’s a book that helps kids ages 4-7 understand why Mommy got a tummy tuck, a nose job and breast implants.

While it’s clear that many people (and not just women) choose to have plastic surgery for cosmetic reasons, think about the horrible messages that Dr. Michael Salzhauer’s book, My Beautiful Mommy, is sending to our children about their parents’ values, about our society’s values, and about their bodies.

No wonder why so many children and teens have problems with body image. If you are contemplating buying this book for your child – for heaven’s sake, think about what you’re doing to yourself, and to your family.

Read more about this in Newsweek.

The old wartime expression was, “Loose lips sink ships.” Should a modern-day equivalent be, “Loose lips sink networks?”

InfoSecurity Europe today issued a press release that says,

A survey by Infosecurity Europe of 576 office workers have found that women far more likely to give away their passwords to total strangers than their male counterparts, with 45% of women versus 10% of men prepared to give away their password, to strangers masquerading as market researches with the lure of a chocolate bar as an incentive for filling in the survey. The survey was actually part of a social engineering exercise to raise awareness about information security. The survey was conducted outside Liverpool Street Station in the City of London.

The release, entitled, “Women 4 times more likely than men to give passwords for chocolate,” also said,

This year’s survey results were significantly better than previous years. In 2007 64% of people were prepared to give away their passwords for a chocolate bar, this year it had dropped to just 21% so at last the message is getting through to be more infosecurity savvy. The researchers also asked the office workers for their dates of birth to validate that they had carried out the survey here the workers were very naïve with 61% revealing their date of birth. Another slightly worrying fact discovered by researchers is that over half of people questioned use the same password for everything (e.g. work, banking, web, etc.)

Fascinating results… and alarming, says Claire Sellick, event director for the conference:

After the survey was completed, each worker was told ‘We do not really want your personal information this is part of an exercise to raise awareness about information security as part of Information Security Awareness Week which runs from the 21-25 April 2008. We will tabulate results to find out how good people are at securing their information.’ At this one man told one of our pretty researchers you look so well dressed and honest I did not think you could be a criminal, which was a sentiment echoed by many others.

Claire Sellick continued “This is precisely the problem, whether a criminal approaches you on the street or online, they will often not be who they appear to be, a criminal can often look very presentable. Many of the social engineering techniques used by face-to-face fraudsters have been adopted by criminals to encourage people to open spam emails or visit websites that are infected with viruses, trojans or malware collectively known as crimeware. The crimeware silently takes control of PCs and other devices then steal identities and cash or in many cases joins the PCs to a network of controlled PCs as part of a “BOTNET” to launch attacks on other people or organisations.”

Check out the release — you’ll find it fascinating and worrisome.

Today’s treat from the post office box: a seven-wheel Encrypta cryptex, courtesy of SanDisk.

SanDisk is showing encrypted USB keys at Interop, and wanted to meet with me to see them. If I get a chance, I’ll swing by.

As I wrote a couple of months ago in “Keep an eye on those flash drives — and USB ports,” the enterprise danger represented by lost USB keys is significant.

Enough about SanDisk.

The cryptex is cool. It’s 7 1/2 inches tall, made of wood, and has brass fittings. Made by Encrypta Gifts, it’s the perfect addition to my vast collection of desk toys. With prices starting around $50 (quantity one), SanDisk spent pretty well on this promotion.

My most recent desk-toy purchase was a Dr. Zoidberg bobblehead.

Update: I’ve not even had the Cryptex for two hours, and I’ve already taken it apart and changed the password (preprogrammed to be something promotional) to something vaguely obscene. Now it’s a better desk toy.

The Russian word, Tsar, is loosely translated as “Emperor,” but comes from the old Latin word Caesar. Sometimes, Tsar is spelled Tzar. More rarely, it’s Czar.

In the United States, arguably the most famous tsars are from Russia. Tsar Peter the Great. Tsar Nicholas II. Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Tsaritsa Catherine the Great.

Few Americans, I suspect, would write those as Czar Peter or Czaritsa Catherine.

So why do we use “Czar” as an informal designation for heads of specific U.S. initiatives, like “Drug Czar” or “Cyber-Security Czar”?

It’s a mystery.

Speaking of mysteries, let’s hope that our latest Cyber-Security Czar, Rod Beckstrom, does a decent job. On paper, he has little to no experience in IT security. Bruce Schneier wrote a minimalist but scathing review of Mr. Beckstrom’s credentials.

Mr. Beckstrom is co-author of “The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations.” I hope his Department of Homeland Security team won’t be leaderless.

I was chatting with my colleague Ted Bahr about Time Machine, the backup software included with Mac OS X 10.5.2 “Leopard.”

Ted is a multi-platform guy. He uses an iMac at home, but in the office, he has an ancient Dell laptop running Windows XP. Although he likes the Mac, he’s far from passionate about either platform.

Shortly afterwards, I stumbled across one of Apple’s fun “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” ads about Time Machine, and instant messaged the URL to Ted so that he could watch it.

Ted’s immediate response: “I’m sorry, I don’t have time to download QuickTime to view it.” He then called Apple “stupid” for putting a barrier between a Windows user and its marketing materials aimed at converting Windows users.

Ted is an absolute whiz at detecting the weak marketing efforts, and he’s right on the money here. Who are the targets of the “I’m a Mac” ads? Windows users, who might be tempted to switch to the Mac. In some cases, the Windows user might stumble across the ad. They might go looking for it, after seeing an ad on TV. Or, the user might be sent the link, as I did for Ted.

Apple wants — or should want — those users to be able to watch those ads. They should make sure that it’s super-easy.

Do those Windows users have QuickTime installed? Some do, certainly. But not all. Ted didn’t, for example. I would guess that this is not unusual in a business. In fact, in a tightly managed enterprise environment, a Windows end user may not be allowed to install the QuickTime application or browser plug-in without contacting IT.

Therefore, suggests Ted, Apple’s Web repository of “I’m a Mac” ads aren’t really marketing at all, they’re just there to cater to zealots. If Apple was truly serious about reaching Windows users with its Web site, he says, the company would post the ads in both QuickTime and Windows Media formats, giving users a choice of which to watch (or better yet, sniff out the platform and play the correct one automatically). No plug-ins required.

Ted’s right. While Apple may be delighting its existing customers by delivering streaming media in QuickTime, its purpose with the “I’m a Mac” ads isn’t to evangelize the benefits of QuickTime, but to sell Macs. Apple shouldn’t require that prospective customers install special software (even if that software is free) in order to view marketing materials.