Advice to die-hard Windows XP users: Dump Internet Explorer

If you are still using Windows XP on your computer, you are now highly vulnerable to cyber attacks as Microsoft has stopped supporting this operating system effective last month.

Well, you can reduce that risk by more than half, according to security experts, by ditching Internet Explorer (IE) and use other browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, Opera, etc. Of course Microsoft disagree, but that's another matter.


Microsoft's support of Windows XP has ended on April 8, 2014 and there would be no more patches for security loopholes for this operating system.


Dump the Internet Explorer?

This seems to be the consensus if Computerworld is to be believed.

"By switching to a non-Microsoft browser, Windows XP users can halve the number of vulnerabilities that apply to the OS, according to a survey of flaws Microsoft fixed in the second half of 2013. 

The statistics support the advice from security professionals, who have recommended users run a rival browser to avoid some of the attacks aimed at their unprotected PCs. 

Microsoft stopped sending patches to Windows XP PCs last month. The ban also applies to any version of IE that runs on the aged operating system. But a tally of Windows and IE vulnerabilities patched from July to December 2013 shows that the browser poses a greater security risk to XP bitter-enders than does the OS itself. - CWM"

The article is elaborated further at Computerworld Magazine here. Take a look.


TheGreenMechanics: I currently have Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Microsoft Internet Explorer installed in my machine and I seldom use IE alone.

Solar Wind Energy to build $1.5 billion power tower in Arizona

Solar Wind Energy Tower Inc. won approval from an Arizona city to develop a $1.5 billion project that would use ambient desert heat to create a draft to generate electricity, in a concrete colossus that would be the tallest structure in North America.


Artist impression of the Solar Wind's colossal tower which create downdraft. Image: via REW


The 2,250-feet (686-metre) project, which resembles a nuclear plant’s cooling tower, would be capable of generating at a average rate of about 435 MWh [I suspect this would be monthly average] over the course of a year, said Ron Pickett, chief executive officer of the Maryland-based company.

In July and August, the Southwest’s hottest and driest months, the plant could produce more than 1,200 MWh.


The Solar Wind power tower: How it works

Using technology created by Solar Wind, water would be injected in a mist near the top of the tower, causing the air to cool and gain density. The draft created by the sinking air would exceed 50 miles per hour. As the air is forced through a ring of turbines at the tower’s base, electricity is generated.

How it works

“This is a game-changer in certain areas — hot, dry climates,” Pickett said. The company is proposing this project near the Mexico border to prove the concept, with the goal of licensing the process to developers. The technology would work in Africa, Australia and “you can throw a dart in the Mideast, and it works there,” he said.

San Luis, a city of 26,000 residents about 20 miles southwest of Yuma, Arizona, agreed to give the project necessary rights of way and sell it water under a 50-year contract. Terms weren’t disclosed for the agreement, which was approved by the city council on April 23.

Solar Wind expects to get the project operating as early as 2018.

Although no buyers yet for the project's power, local utilities and the U.S. Defense Department have inquired about it.

Source: Renewable Energy World

TheGreenMechanics: This ambitious project is not without criticism from the public; some readers argued that building the 686-metre tower would actually produce more CO2 than the potential avoidance in the foreseeable future.

Would be interesting to see this commissioned in 4 years' time.

You can read the full article by clicking the link provided above.

Happy Labour Day

Take some time off and stay away from work for a day. That won't make you less productive this week. In Malaysia we say "Selamat Hari Pekerja"

"Happy Labour Day"

From: The Green Mechanics