Last week I went to see F-Secure to hear about what's happening in the world of computer and internet security, and what they're doing about it. One of the many conversations was about mobile phones and their potential vulnerabilities. Most phones now run a complete operating system and, the more complicated a system, the more likely it is to be compromised.

The biggest risk as always though, isn't the technology but the user and this is certainly the case with Bluetooth. We haven't been convinced by the warnings about Bluejacking, but there are still many ways in which Bluetooth can be used to catch you out. Here's a quick summary of the advice from Sean, who contributes to the F-Secure blog.

Don't leave Bluetooth on when you're not using it

There's no point risking being vulnerable should someone manage to find a way to exploit Bluetooth. And in any case, Bluetooth uses valuable battery power.

Don't use a desirable name

You might be proud of your new phone, but if you advertise its model number you might be putting that advertisement in the way of someone who wants your phone.

Be careful of receiving messages

People can send you messages if Bluetooth is switched on and your phone is discoverable. If you're in a place where you don't expect to receive a text message, don't look at your phone. The example Sean gave was a mugger wanting to find out who owns the phone with the desirable name in a Tube carriage. A threatening message should produce a reaction identifying you to the potential phone thief.

Move if under attack

Bluetooth has a very short range, so if you think something is trying to attack your phone, just walk away. Granted that won’t work in the underground example given above but is more help with some of the Bluetooth enabled billboards that are being planned.

Posted by Tim Smith on June 26, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (9)

The Windows Vista (and Office 2007) packaging was a bit of a mystery to me. I failed to get it open on the first attempt and still can’t understand the idea behind a box that doesn’t really stack very well.

I was pleased to read on the Windows 7 Team Blog that the packaging for Windows 7 will at least open like a normal CD case, even it it will still have the curved top. See the blog post for all the details of how it’s better for the environment too.

Posted by Tim Smith on June 25, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (7)

Continuing the Windows 7 theme of fixing things that were/are very annoying in Windows Vista, the process of connecting to a wireless network has been improved in Windows 7.

Specifically when you are asked to enter the WEP or WPA key for the network, the characters are displayed by default and only replaced by stars if you select the option. Showing the characters isn’t really much of a security risk, but does make life easier, especially if the key is hard to guess.

Posted by Tim Smith on June 23, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Something that has frustrated me greatly about Vista is that you cannot remove a USB key if it is open in Windows Explorer. You could in Windows XP, and if there are no other files open it seems needlessly fussy. I accept that the preview may have files open but as it’s part of Windows Explorer it should be able to close the file.

Anyway, Windows 7 RC1 has redeemed Microsoft. I have just been able to select Safely Remove hardware when the contents of my USB key where displayed in Windows Explorer.

Granted it’s not a big change, but Windows 7 is impressing me partly because many of those little annoyances in Vista have been fixed.

Posted by Tim Smith on June 22, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)

If you thought the button on the front of the computer and the Ctrl, Alt + Del salute were the only ways to reboot a computer, think again. It’s from a Linux perspective but an interesting read nonetheless.

Posted by Tim Smith on June 22, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)

I blogged a month back weeks ago about the power plans in Vista, and how there isn’t really any difference between the Balanced and High Performance plans. Well apart from the noise of my notebook fan on constantly that is.

Windows 7 appears to have got rid of high performance altogether as you can see here.

I think this is a good thing. There was no real performance benefit to running in High Performance mode and Balanced should help save power. That gives longer battery life for notebook users, and hopefully saves on the electricity bill for everyone.

Posted by Tim Smith on June 11, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (18)

Having found a spare notebook with a suitable spec, I’ve decided to give Windows 7 RC1 a go as the main operating system.

I’ve kept Windows XP as a backup just in case I come across some software that won’t play nicely.

So far installation has been very quick and painless with only one minor hitch. Unfortunately the installer won’t let me shrink partitions on the hard disk so I couldn’t make room for Windows 7. Just as well I had a Linux LiveCD to hand. Mandriva Linux as it happens. Hopefully that will be sorted out in the final release. I’m sure Vista could do this.

It’s now installed and the internet is connected but I’ve still got to sort out the graphics drivers.

Posted by Tim Smith on June 10, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (11)

Huge collections of fonts and images are par for the course with most design software, whether for the web or paper, but that doesn't mean they are all good.

Knowing what looks good where and when is a valuable skill, and if you've never done anything like this before, you should read this book. In fact if you have been doing design without any advice (that’s me), you should read this book too.

The layout of the book is as good as my introduction would suggest, giving examples of all the principles that are explained. A particularly helpful touch is that all the fonts used in the book are named in a special index at the back. There are few things worse than finding a font and then not knowing what it’s called.

The basic message of the book boils down into four key principles:

• Contrast
• Repetition
• Alignment
• Proximity

The acronym may be unfortunate but it is memorable! Each is explained in some detail and there are exercises to follow at the end of chapters.

At nearly £25, The Non-Designer’s Design Book might seem expensive, especially given it’s slim stature. But this is money very well spent if you are planning any kind of design work. It radically improved the design work I’ve been doing both at work and at home.

5/5 Buy it! 

The Non-Designer's Design Book
Robin Williams
PeachPit Press
£23.99
ISBN: 978-0321534040

Posted by Tim Smith on June 10, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (7)

I wrote a feature recently on installing new fonts. The problem is not so much the how but the what. It can be quite tricky to find good quality fonts to use in projects. Smashing Magazine has just published a list of some very attractive fonts, along with links too previous articles.

Well worth a look if you have any design projects planned.

Posted by Tim Smith on June 9, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (11)

Regular readers will no doubt remember several posts about customising the toolbars in Word to save screen space and keeping focused on the words I’m writing.

Sadly, in the space of a fortnight or so, my Word windows are looking more like this, thanks to the installation of Office Live, Zoho and gDoc Fusion. All worthy programs but taking up quite a lot of space. It could be worse. At one point, Word included an icon to my phone via Bluetooth. I’m still trying to work out why and how.

Given my frustration at the greater amount of space needed by the Office 2007 Ribbon, it actually prevents this problem. The add-ons get their own tab in the Ribbon. Though what happens when there are more add-ons than can be fitted in the Window width might be interesting.

Hopefully I’ll persuade Word to return to my normal toolbar setup very soon

Posted by Tim Smith on June 8, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)

My thanks to Dave who offered some helpful advice about the Office ribbon over the weekend. In case you missed the comment, here is a quick repeat.

“I love the ribbon. I'm a pretty hardcore office user: word, excel, and
powerpoint are essential components of my daily life.

1) When the mouse cursor is in the ribbon region, you can flip through
all of the ribbon categories with the mouse wheel. This essentially
makes every ribbon menu option a 1-click option. The classic menu
sometimes requires up to three clicks (unless you're willing to wait
for sub-menus to pop up on their own). 1-click is better than 3-clicks;
therefore, the ribbon is an improvement on the interface.

2) I hate clicking through menus! If you're using the mouse at
an angle then it's way too easy to "slide off" the menu option you're
trying to select. The assortment of differently sized buttons on the
ribbon solve that problem perfectly. This is another improvement.

3) The largest complaint I've heard here is that its not intuitive and
you have trouble finding things. Well, if you have trouble finding
things, then spend the 20 minutes and learn the interface first. It's a
different interface; it's something that you have to learn. The fact
that it's so easy to learn (it's very visually oriented) is what makes
it "intuitive". “

I’ll just add on Dave’s last point a link to the Interactive Guide: Word 2003 to Word 2007. It’s a clever little Flash app. Find the option you want in the Office 2003 menu system and it will show you where to find it in Office 2007.

Posted by Tim Smith on June 1, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)