Unlimited Menus - Application launcher

Unlimited Menus allows you to launch your favorite folders, files and documents, as well as programs and system commands, using a simple menu that is accessible from the system tray. You can customize the list of items, and also maintain multiple menu lists, allowing you to switch between them as needed. Download : Click Here

Microsoft Warns of New Excel Vulnerability

Although Excel is the focus of the new critical vulnerability, according to Microsoft, other Office applications are potentially at risk. Microsoft stressed in a security advisory that attackers have no way of forcing users to visit a malicious Web site or open a malicious file, but the company did not indicate whether it would release an Excel patch prior to the February 13 round of updates.

Microsoft is investigating another zero-day vulnerability in its Office suite of productivity applications after confirming that a critical, unpatched flaw exists in Excel.
The flaw is called a "zero-day vulnerability" because there is no patch to fix it, which means that hackers can actively exploit it. While Microsoft's next scheduled round of Windows updates is next Tuesday, there is no word yet on whether a patch will be released at that time to fix the flaw.

Redmond is investigating a limited number of attacks designed to exploit the vulnerability in several versions of Office, including 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004 for the Mac.

Excel Threat

In order for this attack to be carried out, according to a security advisory released by Microsoft, a user must first open a malicious Office file, which would typically arrive as an e-mailed attachment -- a common strategy among malware writers. If the attached file is opened, it would give the attacker the same user rights as the victim has.

The vulnerability also can be exploited through a Web-based attack. In this case, the attacker would host a Web site that contains an Office file designed to corrupt system memory and allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the targeted computer.

Although Excel is the focus of the vulnerability, other Office applications are potentially at risk, according to Redmond. And while Microsoft stressed in the advisory that attackers have no way of forcing users to visit a malicious Web site or open a malicious file, the company did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the possibility of issuing an Excel patch prior to the February 13 round of updates.

Some users are still waiting for patches for four other critical flaws in Microsoft Word, leaving that software open to attack on at least two fronts. Microsoft has noted that it is working on security updates for Office to address this string of vulnerabilities.

Vista Powered

Office users running productivity applications on Microsoft's new operating system, Windows Vista, could find extra protection because even users logged in as administrators still operate in limited-access mode. Indeed, for all the complaints about Vista's security alerts getting in the way of a smooth computing experience, analysts say the new operating system's enhanced security offers an improvement over Windows XP.

Directions on Microsoft analyst Michael Cherry compared negative user reaction toward Vista's hardened security to air travelers who complain about having to jump through security hoops at airports. When there is a terrorist threat, he said, people stop complaining about waiting in long lines. But when conditions calm, he added, they bark about having to take off their shoes and put them through the scanner.

"Everybody will complain about those user dialogs in Vista until there is an incident," Cherry said. "Then they will think it's wonderful. Security comes at a price."

VeriSign Plans $100M Internet Upgrade

VeriSign said the $100 million expansion, among other improvements, will increase its ability to process domain name system, or DNS, queries from 400 billion a day to more than 4 trillion a day. Those queries occur every time Internet users click on ".com" or ".net" Web sites or check e-mail and use applications that utilize those domain names.

VeriSign Inc., which manages the ".com" and ".net" domain names registry and ensures Internet users can reach those locations, said it will spend more than $100 million in a massive infrastructure upgrade to combat a new wave of computer attacks and manage a surge in online activity.

Industry experts said VeriSign's investment comes at a critical time for the computing world. They pointed to hackers' powerful attacks this week on the computers that manage global Internet traffic as evidence of the mounting threat from online criminals.

Stratton Sclavos, VeriSign's chief executive officer, was scheduled to announce the upgrade Thursday in San Francisco at a security conference sponsored by RSA Inc., the security division of EMC Corp.

Sclavos said it's the company's largest investment in infrastructure upgrades and technology development. The overall investment is slated to boost capacity tenfold by 2010.

Sclavos said VeriSign, which operates two of the 13 so-called "root" servers that manage global Internet traffic, has an obligation to stay ahead of increasingly insidious and widespread Internet attacks.

"We're seeing a lot more sophistication in these attacks," he said. "And they're not just targeting thousands of users -- they're targeting hundreds of thousands or millions of users."

The Mountain View-based company said the expansion will increase its ability to process domain name system, or DNS, queries from 400 billion a day to more than 4 trillion a day. Those queries occur every time Internet users click on ".com" or ".net" Web sites or check e-mail and use applications that utilize those domain names.

VeriSign said it currently processes 24 billion such interactions daily, and it is preparing for dramatically higher activity as more users get online worldwide and conduct more of their business and leisure on the Web.

The investment also will boost bandwidth on VeriSign's systems from more than 20 gigabits per second to more than 200 gigabits per second.

The company promises reduced bottlenecks and ramped-up speed from infrastructure that is more broadly distributed around the world.

But Sclavos said security is also a key element of the upgrade, including the strengthening of security provisions and engineering improvements to bolster the ability to identify and track security threats around the globe.

"This is good for the whole Internet infrastructure," Sclavos said. "If the Internet's infrastructure fails, hundreds of billions of dollars in commerce and communications will be at risk. We can't afford for that to happen."

Will Stofega, a research manager with market researcher IDC, said the attacks this week that overwhelmed at least three of the 13 root servers highlight the growing threat posed by online criminals.

He said the last major round of large upgrades occurred during the dot-com boom and that VeriSign's investment could prod other companies into following suit.

"This is a very timely investment," Stofega said. "In a couple of years, we're going to start seeing some very, very serious types of attacks. If we don't start making these types of investments now, we're in trouble."

Folder Guide - Access folders from the right-click menu

Folder Guide is a handy shell extension that allows you to quickly access a list of your favorite folders from the Explorer right-click menu. You can easily switch to a folder from within Windows Explorer, the Open/Save dialogs of applications, or directly from your desktop or the Start button. New folders can simply be added to the list via the right-click menu, or from the Settings dialog. Folder Guide also includes an option to launch folders in Explore mode when they are opened directly from your desktop or Start button right-click menu.
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Responding Heads - Control your PC via voice commands

Responding Heads enables you to launch programs, commands and actions via voice commands spoken into your PC microphone. The program uses the MS Speech recognition engine and is very easy to configure. It places a small animated head on your desktop that confirms that spoken commands and adds some animation to the process (this can be turned off). Responding Heads supports program launching, e.g say `Open Mail` to run Outlook Express, as well as several system and keyboard commands, text-to-speech conversion, and even typing of pre-configured keystrokes. Responding Heads is very easy to set up, and worked well during our review. Download : Click Here

SideSlide - Customizable launchpad

SideSlide enables you to create a custom launchpad for programs, documents and folders, using a mini-desktop that hides on the edge of your screen until you activate it with your mouse. In addition to shortcuts the program also offers reminders (with alarm) and sticky notes as well as clipboard capture. You simply drag shortcuts into the workspace, create containers to organize your content and completely customize the appearance with background images and colors. The containers and notes can be arranged in layers, shrunk/expanded and moved around freely by means of drag and drop. Other features include support for Launch Groups that allow you to start multiple programs at once, zooming in and out of shortcuts, image display and more.
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