This week we learned how to use a PC to stay entertained while traveling for the holidays, create quality photo prints with free software, share links between any browser and any smartphone, create perfect Christmas photos using How-To Geek’s 10 best how-to photo guides, and had fun decorating Firefox with a collection of Holiday 2010 Personas themes.

Photo by Repoort.

Random Geek Links

Photo by Asian Angel.

• Critical 0-Day Flaw Affects All Internet Explorer Versions, Microsoft Warns
  Microsoft has confirmed a zero-day vulnerability affecting all supported versions of Internet Explorer, including IE8, IE7 and IE6. Note: Article contains link to Microsoft Security Advisory detailing two work-arounds until a security update is released.
• Hackers targeting human rights, indie media groups
  Hackers are increasingly hitting the Web sites of human rights and independent media groups in an attempt to silence them, says a new study released this week by Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society.
• OpenBSD: audits give no indication of back doors
  So far, the analyses of OpenBSD’s crypto and IPSec code have not provided any indication that the system contains back doors for listening to encrypted VPN connections. But the developers have already found two bugs during their current audits.
• Sophos: Beware Facebook’s new facial-recognition feature
  Facebook’s new facial recognition software might result in undesirable photos of users being circulated online, warned a security expert, who urged users to keep abreast with the social network’s privacy settings to prevent the abovementioned scenario from becoming a reality.
• Microsoft withdraws flawed Outlook update
  Microsoft has withdrawn update KB2412171 for Outlook 2007, released last Patch Tuesday, after a number of user complaints.
• Skype: Millions still without service
  Skype was still working to right itself going into the holiday weekend from a major outage that began this past Wednesday.
• Mozilla improves sync setup and WebGL in Firefox 4 beta 8
  Firefox 4.0 beta 8 brings better support for WebGL and introduces an improved setup process for Firefox Sync that simplifies the steps for configuring the synchronization service across multiple devices.
• Chrome OS the litmus test for cloud
  The success or failure of Google’s browser-oriented Chrome OS will be the litmus test to decide if the cloud is capable of addressing user needs for content and services, according to a new Ovum report released Monday.
• FCC Net neutrality rules reach mobile apps
  The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finally released its long-expected regulations on Thursday and the related explanations total a whopping 194 pages. One new item that was not previously disclosed: mobile wireless providers can’t block “applications that compete with the provider’s” own voice or video telephony services.
• KDE and the Document Foundation join Open Invention Network
  The KDE e.V. and the Document Foundation (TDF) have both joined the Open Invention Network (OIN) as licensees, expanding the organization’s roster of supporters.
• Report: SEC looks into Hurd’s ousting from HP
  The scandal surrounding Mark Hurd’s departure from the world’s largest technology company in August has officially drawn attention from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
• Report: Google requests delay of new Google TVs
  Google TV is apparently encountering a bit of static that has resulted in a programming change.

Geek Video of the Week

This week we have a double dose of geeky video goodness for you with the original Mac vs PC video and the trailer for the sequel.

Photo courtesy of Peacer.

Mac vs PC

Photo courtesy of Peacer.

Mac vs PC 2 Trailer

Random TinyHacker Links

• Awesome Tools To Extract Audio From Video
  Here’s a list of really useful, and free tools to rip audio from videos.
• Getting Your iPhone Out of Recovery Mode
  Is your iPhone stuck in recovery mode? This tutorial will help you get it out of that state.
• Google Shared Spaces
  Quickly create a shared space and collaborate with friends online.
• McAfee Internet Security 2011 – Upgrade not worthy of a version change
  McAfee has released their 2011 version of security products. And as this review details, the upgrades are minimal when compared to their 2010 products. For more information, check out the review.
• 200 Countries Plotted
  Hans Rosling’s famous lectures combine enormous quantities of public data with a sport’s commentator’s style to reveal the story of the world’s past, present and future development. Now he explores stats in a way he has never done before – using augmented reality animation.

Super User Questions

Enjoy looking through this week’s batch of popular questions and answers from Super User.

• How to restore windows 7 to a known working state every time it boots?
• Is there an easy way to mass-transfer all files between two computers?
• Coffee spilled inside computer, damaged hard drive
• Computer does not boot after ram upgrade
• Keyboard not detected when trying to install Ubuntu 10.10

How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap

Have you had a super busy week while preparing for the holiday weekend? Then here is your chance to get caught up on your reading with our five hottest articles for the week.

• Ask How-To Geek: Rescuing an Infected PC, Installing Bloat-free iTunes, and Taming a Crazy Trackpad
• How to Use the Avira Rescue CD to Clean Your Infected PC
• Eight Geektacular Christmas Projects for Your Day Off
• VirtualBox 4.0 Rocks Extensions and a Simplified GUI
• Ask the Readers: How Many Monitors Do You Use with Your Computer?

One Year Ago on How-To Geek

Here are more great articles from one year ago for you to read and enjoy during the holiday break.

• Enjoy Distraction-Free Writing with WriteMonkey
• Shutter is a State of Art Screenshot Tool for Ubuntu
• Get Hex & RGB Color Codes the Easy Way
• Find User Scripts for Your Favorite Websites the Easy Way
• Access Your Unsorted Bookmarks the Easy Way (Firefox)

The Geek Note

That “wraps” things up for this week and we hope that everyone enjoys the rest of their holiday break! Found a great tip during the break? Then be sure to send it in to us at [email protected].

Photo by ArSiSa7.