Office 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3)

Details…

Office 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3)
Date last published: 9/18/2007
Download size: 119.9 MB
Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3) contains significant security enhancements, in addition to stability improvements. Some of the fixes included with SP3 have been previously released as separate updates. This service pack combines them into one update.

Microsoft has more information.

Service Pack 3 also includes stability improvements developed as a result of user input from the Microsoft Online Crash Analysis in Office 2003 and from Microsoft Product Support feedback.

Some of the changes in Service Pack 3 modify the behavior of Office 2003, including changes that disable some features by default and increase control for computer administrators. Changes include:

• Office 2003 can no longer open or save certain file formats. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 938810.
• MAPI forms do not run in public folders and user folders. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 938816.
• Office 2003 can now be configured to allow or deny specific COM components. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 938815.
• Some COM components with unusual characteristics may not function as expected. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 938814.
• Changes have been made to the behavior of Microsoft Office Document Imaging. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 938813.
• Attachments with the .gadget extension can no longer be opened in Outlook. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 938811.
• Access add-ins can no longer be configured for use by all users. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 938809.
• The Fast Save setting in Microsoft Office Word has been removed. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 938808.
• Documents saved in certain formats no longer contain the version number of Office. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 938807.
• Certain macros in older Excel file formats have increased security. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 938806.

UPDATE 21-Sep-2007:
The association for TIFF files is removed in some cases after application of Office Service Pack 3.
This may have an impact on some CRM/BI system users.

[1] Office 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3) [MS]
[2] Microsoft releases Office 2003 SP3 (2007-Sep-19) [SANS]
[3] Microsoft Releases Office 2003 Service Pack 3 [eWeek]

This weeks links: 2007-09-19

turns 25
Twenty-five years ago, Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman says, he was the first to use three keystrokes – a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis – as a horizontal “smiley face” in a computer message.
Digital smiley face turns 25 (2007-Sep-18) [The Age]

International Talk Like A Pirate Day
September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day!
Talk Like A Pirate Day is an original concept created in a moment of temporary insanity by John Baur and Mark Summers.
http://www.talklikeapirate.com/

Firefox 2.0.0.7

Mozilla have released Firefox 2.0.0.7. This version fixes two vulnerabilities;

Fixed in Firefox 2.0.0.7
MFSA 2007-28 Code execution via QuickTime Media-link files
IMPACT
CRITICAL: MFSA 2007-28

Firefox 2 should prompt you to upgrade to the new version using the built in software update agent. If you check for updates manually upgrade Firefox as soon as possible. (NOTE: Firefox 1.5 has not been supported since May-2007, if you’re still on 1.5 you should really move across to 2.x)

[1] Fixed in Firefox 2.0.0.6 [Mozilla]
[2] Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.7 Release Notes [Mozilla]

Trent Reznor says ‘steal my music’

Trent Reznor says ‘steal my music’ as a commentary on the blatant rip-off pricing of Australian CDs;

“… Has anyone seen the price come down? Okay, well, you know what that means —steal it. Steal away. Steal and steal and steal some more and give it to all your friends and keep on stealin’. Because one way or another these mother****ers will get it through their head that they’re ripping people off and that’s not right.’” — Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails)

N.I.N meets P2P!

Update to WinSCP v4.0.4.

Via Secunia;

Description:
Kender.Security has discovered a vulnerability in WinSCP, which can be exploited by malicious people to manipulate certain files on a user’s system and potentially to compromise a vulnerable system.
…
The vulnerability is confirmed in version 4.0.3. Prior versions may also be affected.

Solution:
Update to version 4.0.4.
http://winscp.net/eng/download.php

By default WinSCP installs URL protocol handlers for the scp:// and sftp:// protocols. These could be used by malicious web content to automatically upload any file from the local system to a remote server, or automatically download files from a remote server to the local system. [3]

Update your copy of WinSCP to v4.0.4

[1] WinSCP Protocol Handler Command Line Switch Injection (2006-Sep-14) [Secunia]
[2] Recent Version History | 4.0.4 [WinSCP.net]
[3] WinSCP URL Protocol Handler Flaw (2006-Sep-16) [SecuriTeam]

And the finish of the “The Wheel of Time” series is …

… never going to be published?

RIP, Robert Jordan
Posted by Cory Doctorow, September 16, 2007
RIP, Robert Jordan, author of the monster bestselling fantasy series The Wheel of Time. Jordan had been suffering from a chronic illness for some years now, making it hard for him to finish new installments in the series — he died with the books unfinished. Some of his friends and colleagues are discussing his life and death on Making Light. He was 58.

“Death cannot be Healed, Rand. You are not the Creator.” — Moiraine, tSR ch.10, p.198

“Promise you will not laugh? I think I might write a book about it. I have been taking notes.” — Loial, tDR ch.2, p.47

[1] RIP, Robert Jordan (2007-Sep-16) [BoingBoing]
[2] James Rigney, pen name Robert Jordan, has died. (2007-Sep-16) [TarValon.net]
[3] The Wheel of Time [Wikipedia]
[4] http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan [Dragonmount | Robert Jordan's blog]

Learning 2.0 – 23 Things – Week #6

Week 6: Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati
# Learn about tagging and discover a Del.icio.us (a social bookmaking site)
# Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts.
# Read a few perspectives on Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the future of libraries and blog your thoughts.

#13 Tagging, folksomonies & social bookmarking in Del.icio.us
Del.icio.us – http://del.icio.us/dcrob
Thoughts: Even though I use Del.icio.us quite a bit for my social bookmarking and exploration, I also rely a fair bit on my browser bookmarks for my day-to-day work patterns. The combination of the ‘del.icio.us’ and ‘Bookmark Sync and Sort’ Add-ons for Firefox complete the picture for my needs.

#14 Getting not-so-technical with Technorati
Technorati – http://technorati.com/people/technorati/dcrob/
keywords, whole blog key words, claimed blogs

#15 On Library 2.0 & Web 2.0 …

Library 2.0
Library 2.0 is a loosely defined model for a modernized form of library service that reflects a transition within the library world in the way that services are delivered to users. The concept of Library 2.0 borrows from that of Business 2.0 and Web 2.0 and follows some of the same underlying philosophies. This includes online services such as the use of OPAC systems and an increased flow of information from the user back to the library.
With Library 2.0 library services are constantly updated and reevaluated to best serve library users. Library 2.0 also attempts to harness the library user in the design and implementation of library services by encouraging feedback and participation. Proponents of this concept expect that ultimately the Library 2.0 model for service will replace traditional, one-directional service offerings that have characterized libraries for centuries. — Wikipedia

service2.0 – more user focussed, a meme from the Web2.0 naming
User-centered “social”
virtual and physical space
expect access to everything, all the time
remove barriers to access, if a services can’t be used without training, then it’s the services that need to be fixed
removing the “come to us” model of service
not technology for the sake of technology

Discovery:
1. Read two or three of the perspectives on Library 2.0 from the list above.
2. Create a blog post about your thoughts on any one of these? Library 2.0 – It’s many things to many people.
What does it mean to you?

Library 2.0 and “Library 2.0” (PDF) [Cites & Insights]

… tbc …

[1] Learning 2.0 – The Things

Build yourself a bootable Ghost USB key

Ramon asks in a comment on the GHOST boot disks for HP dc7700 (III) post;

Any way I can get both disks on 1 usb drive?

Below I go through the steps used to make a bootable USB drive and adding the files from the disks created from my IMG files.

How-to: Build yourself a bootable Ghost USB key

1.) Remove U3 and Format as FAT32
(You don’t need reformat the disk at this stage as it is done at step 4.)

2.) Grab yourself the HP USB Tools. We’ll use the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool in this ‘how-to’ but grab both for your tool kit.

• HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool – v2.1.8 Rev.A [PCWorld]
• HP Drive Key Boot Utility – v7.41.3790.0 7.41.3790.0 [HP]

3.) Format a floppy as an MS-DOS startup disk. You need to do this as my IMG files use IBMDOS (PC DOS) not MS DOS and the HP tool needs access to the MS-DOS startup files (MSDOS.SYS, IO.SYS, COMMAND.COM)

4.) Install and run the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool
Point to the DOS startup files on the floppy created in step 3.

5.) Copy the tools from the floppy built from your IMG file.
NOTE: Do not clobber the system fils that you added in step 4.
(MSDOS.SYS, IO.SYS, COMMAND.COM)

OR as we have moved onto the USB key we can use a bit more of the disk space and introduce some more functionality such as multiple network card driver options. A skeleton file can be downloaded from MediFire and unzipped straight onto the formatted thumbdrive — BootKey.zip (MediFire) Link updated 24-Apr-2008

Removing U3

Having looked at the U3 drives in the Portable Applications on a thumb-drive post, we have a number of the drives where we need to remove the U3 software.

Why? Looking in disk manager we can see that the U3 partition only takes up 4MB; so gaining space is not the primary function of deleting the U3 partition. Removing the focus capturing popups and autostart functions is probably the prime motivator as these drives are destined to become Ghost boot disks.

If you manually delete the U3 system contents of the thumbdrive they are restored from the read only drive component the next time the drive is mounted. You will need to obtain the U3 uninstaller software.

To obtain the uninstall program you need to jump through multiple hoops [1] – how many times do I need to be asked ‘do I want to remove the software’? Just give the software!

The software removes the U3 Launchpad and re-configures the USB drive as a single mass storage USB drive. A drawback is that the U3 Launchpad uninstallers are only available for and must be run on Windows XP or Windows 2000 machine … too bad if you are wanting to delete the U3 partition because you are a Mac or Linux user.
If your U3 drive is a SanDisk unit they have a custom U3 Launchpad Removal Tool.

Once the U3 system is removed you are left with a FAT drive, it is worthwhile reformatting the drives as FAT32.

Can I reinstall U3 after I removed the launchpad? [2]
Yes and maybe. So far, the only company that has posted a U3 Installer has been Sandisk. After talking with their technical support, they warned that there have been instances where the installer did not successfully re-install the launcher. Sometimes, the user is left with a normal non-U3 flash drive.
Other times, they are left with a ruined flash drive. Other flash drive manufacturers are planning to supply a means to re-install the launchpad, but there has been no public word, ETA, or success rate on that. So, in short, if you are questioning whether you REALLY want to delete the U3 launchpad, don’t do it. – Vincent Farrand [2]

[1] U3 Launchpad Removal [U3.com]
[2] U3 Newbie Guide [Everything USB]
[3] Reinstall or Restore U3 LaunchPad Software into USB Flash Smart Drive [My Digital Life]

This weeks links: 2007-09-12

International Talk Like A Pirate Day
September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day!
Talk Like A Pirate Day is an original concept created in a moment of temporary insanity by John Baur and Mark Summers.
http://www.talklikeapirate.com/

Parallels Updates Desktop For Mac, Makes Windows Integration Even Tighter
Parallels Desktop 3.0 Build 5160;
The new Parallels build improves 3.0′s already tight integration of Windows apps into the Mac desktop experience. For example, the new build makes Windows apps running in Coherence mode on the OS X desktop behave much more like real Mac apps. Individual windows can be minimized in the Dock, and Windows and Mac app windows can be stacked and tiled any way you want. Their behavior under Expose has been improved (you can see detailed contents of Windows apps when you shuffle windows in Expose), and the Windows apps even throw drop shadows just like Mac apps, as well.
Compiler – Wired Blogs

Software for Starving Students
Software for Starving Students is a free collection of programs organized for students (but available to anyone). We’ve gathered a list of best-in-class programs onto one CD (one disc for OS X, one for Windows), including a fully-featured office suite, a cutting-edge web browser, multi-media packages, academic tools, utilities and more.
http://softwarefor.org/