The news:

Microsoft’s upcoming windows 8 operating system is now at the release to manufacturers(RTM) version. MSDN and TechNet subscribers can download the RTM version right now. There is also a free trial edition of WIndows 8 Enterprise which is good for 90 days.

Developers and users of Twitter have reacted angrily to changes made by the social network to restrict creation of third-party applications.
Any new app that wants to serve more than 100,000 users must now seek the company’s explicit permission

Julian Assange, Founder of wikileaks was granted assylum by the Government of Ecuador. However, the british government has said that he should be extradited to sweden.

Feature: Cyber Warfare

Cyber warfare is a war waged on the internet.  It can disable whole networks or websites.  It can disrupt or disable essential services, steal or alter classified data and cripple financial systems.  Here are just a few of the many hacks that have happened.

• 1998: The US hacked into Serbia’s air defense system to compromise air traffic control.
• 2007: In Estonia, a botnet of 1 million+ computers taken down government, business and media websites across the country.
• 2007: China breaking into the high-tech and military agencies in the US.
• 2009: A cyber spy network called GhostNet accessed confidential information belonging to both government and private organizations in 100+ countries worldwide
• 2012: America hacked Iran’s power and nuclear facilities shutting down most of its power infrastructure.

Here in the UK, Home Secretary Theresa May wants to introduce legislation where law enforcement agencies can check on people using Facebook, Twitter, online gaming forums and Skype.  Agencies such as MI5 and GCHQ would be able to know who speaks to whom and in real time.

It also seems as if your printer is spying you. you might not notice it but it’s happening.   When you print out a page of anything, there are secret dots that are printed.  The printer would then send back information incluidng the printer’s make, serial number and the date and time stamps of the document printed.

Review Corner: Windows 8

The first thing that you see when you boot up is a lock screen. Using your mouse, you will have to push the lock screen up in order to choose your user account.  When you sign in, you will see a tile user interface.  You also get a few apps to get you going(camera, news, people, weather and more) that come with Windows 8.  All of the apps are shown in what are known as tiles. You can arrange them into something that’s good for you.

If you’re not on Windows RT, you can run apps that are not in the Windows 8 store which does not have so many apps(that should change when Windows 8 finally releases). That being said, Adi was able to download and run Mozilla FireFox and XBMC(an alternative to Microsoft’s Media Center app).

You can use the camera app to take pictures and videos using your webcam.

People gives you the ability to see what your friends are posting to Twitter and Facebook. It’s not the best implementation as you can’t actually post within the app.

You can access the old fashioned control panel by typing in control panel from within the new Windows 8 UI.

If you want to get to the Windows desktop you have known and used for years, then you can do so by clicking on the desktop tile.

You also have a bunch of hot corner that allow you to see what apps you are running and the different charms that allow you to access settings or even shut down or restart.

Overall, Adi recommended that you don’t buy it.  He thinks that you should stay well away from Windows 8.

Picks of the week:

Adi’s Pick: Google Authenticator – Free (iOS and Android).  You need to ensure you have turned on two-step verification in order for this app to work (how it works). Once you have it set up, Google Authenticator will generate a one-time passcode that you can use alongside your GMail password.  You can also use Authenticator along with lastpass to make lastpass a super secure way of managing your passwords.

Chris’ Pick: NetInspectFX 

You can use it to see who’s on your network and stop the bad guys from entering your network.  You can also use it to see when someone goes online or offline.

You can reach out to the show by sending an email to mhftechnet@gmail.com

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