Posts tagged Boot
Microsoft Says No to Disabling UEFI Secure Boot on ARM
Jan 13th
Remember last year when questions arose about Microsoft’s policies on UEFI secure boot on Windows 8? Microsoft’s response, or lack thereof, was that "OEMs are free to choose" how or whether to enable turning off secure boot on systems shipping Windows 8. It appears, however, OEMs may not be as free to choose if they’re shipping ARM hardware.
Glyn Moody points out a clause from Microsoft’s Hardware Certification Requirements for Windows 8 on page 116, that says "Disabling Secure MUST NOT be possible on ARM systems."
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I’d hoped to get some clarification from Microsoft, but no such luck. I contacted Microsoft’s PR firm this morning and was told "we have nothing more to share about UEFI at this time."
Moody paints this as a Microsoft vs. Linux situation, but does Microsoft really need to worry about Linux on tablets and phones? Perhaps there’s a contingent that would try to boot Maemo, MeeGo, Tizen or whatever it’s called this week, but in large enough numbers to threaten Microsoft? It seems doubtful.
So why prevent disabling secure boot? Aside from a reflexive lockdown on tablets and phones, you’ve got me. Microsoft won’t have the same kind of problems with copyright infringement on ARM devices it has on x86/AMD64 computers. If you buy a tablet or phone running Windows 8, you’ve already paid for Windows, right?
Here’s hoping Microsoft will have a change of heart about the requirements for Windows 8 before we start seeing a bunch of ARM devices that can boot nothing but approved images of Windows 8.
View full post on ReadWriteWeb
Microsoft’s Non-Response to the Secure Boot Problem
Sep 23rd
Microsoft has put up a post about secure boot in response to concerns about its effects on Linux and other operating systems. Microsoft has provided a very detailed explanation of what UEFI secure boot is, and what its benefits are. What Microsoft hasn’t done is to actually respond to concerns raised by Matthew Garrett about its secure boot policies. In short, while Microsoft is requiring secure boot to be enabled, its policies do not require that users be able to turn the feature off. As Garrett says, “end user is no longer in control of their PC.”
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Microsoft’s post is fairly lengthy and most of it is spent discussing the actual nuts and bolts of the secure boot features. I’ve included a few of the diagrams from the post to show how it works, but you should go read it. As a layperson’s overview of UEFI secure boot, it’s great. As an actual response to the issues that Garrett has raised? It almost completely avoids the topic, and certainly does little to address the issue. Microsoft, through its PR firm, has also declined to comment citing the fact that Windows 8 is still in pre-beta.
The issue at hand is this: Will users and businesses have control over their PCs? The answer is a firm sort of if OEMs choose to support it. Microsoft’s Tony Mangefeste says that “the customer is in control of their PC,” but then says “OEMs are free to choose how to enable” turning off secure boot. He also doesn’t address the issue of adding other OSes to secure boot at all.
One major problem is that OEMs may not choose to expose a way to disable secure boot at all. Says Garrett:
The end user is not guaranteed the ability to install extra signing keys in order to securely boot the operating system of their choice. The end user is not guaranteed the ability to disable this functionality. The end user is not guaranteed that their system will include the signing keys that would be required for them to swap their graphics card for one from another vendor, or replace their network card and still be able to netboot, or install a newer SATA controller and have it recognise their hard drive in the firmware. The end user is no longer in control of their PC.
Garrett also notes that the secure boot problem isn’t a recent discovery. “We became aware of this issue in early August. Since then, we at Red Hat have been discussing the problem with other Linux vendors, hardware vendors and BIOS vendors. We’ve been making sure that we understood the ramifications of the policy in order to avoid saying anything that wasn’t backed up by facts.”
Read why this matters on page 2
Web Savvy Marketing Launches New SEO Boot Camp – openPR (press release)
Aug 22nd
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Web Savvy Marketing Launches New SEO Boot Camp
openPR (press release) (openPR) – Commerce, Michigan – Web Savvy Marketing, a Michigan-based SEO consulting firm, today announced the availability of SEO Boot Camp. The onsite SEO workshop is designed to teach users best practices, tools, and techniques for creating an … |
View full post on SEO – Google News
Boot Camp Digital Hosts Social Media & SEO Lunch and Learn Seminar in Cincinnati – Online PR News (press release)
Aug 7th
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Boot Camp Digital Hosts Social Media & SEO Lunch and Learn Seminar in Cincinnati
Online PR News (press release) Attendees of this session will receive training on “Integrating Social Media Marketing and SEO”, which will give them a detailed explanation of how Social Media and Search Engine Optimization can work together to drive traffic, leads and sales for your … |
View full post on SEO – Google News
Boot Camp Digital Hosts Social Media & SEO Lunch and Learn Seminar in Cincinnati – Newswire Today (press release)
Aug 4th
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Boot Camp Digital Hosts Social Media & SEO Lunch and Learn Seminar in Cincinnati
Newswire Today (press release) NewswireToday – /newswire/ – Cincinnati, OH, United States, 08/04/2011 – Join Boot Camp Digital on August 18 and learn how to grow your business through integrating Social Media and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – BootCampDigital.com. … THE NEW STARGAZER AT PUMULANI IN MALAWI |
View full post on SEO – Google News
Great Firewall Founder Gets a Boot Upside the Head
May 20th
Chinese technologist Fang Binxing is credited as the father of the Great Firewall of China, the ring of blocks and filters that keeps the Internet in that country under the political control of the ruling regime. Known as the “Golden Shield” in Chinese, is was begun as a way to seize economic opportunities for the country without sacrificing Communist Party control.
Fang, the president of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, was speaking at Wuhan University in China’s Hubei province when he was pelted with an egg (which missed) and a shoe (which did not).
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BoingBoing and others credit the attack to an anonymous Twitterer, @hanunyi.
“The egg missed the target. The first shoe hit the target. The second shoe was blocked by a man and a woman,” said @hanunyi
The Guardian reported, “Earlier this year Fang closed a microblog within days of opening it after thousands of Chinese internet users left comments, almost all of them deriding him. They attacked him as ‘a running dog for the government’ and ‘the enemy of netizens.’”
According to the Associated Press, who spoke to local police, Chinese authorities are searching for the egg-loving shoe-thrower. Fang’s office, however, denies the attack happened at all.
The New York Times reported that Fang cut short his speech and made a dash for the airport.
Great Wall photo by Mike Behnken, shoe photo by Steven S.
View full post on ReadWriteWeb
iReport boot camp: Get your stories seen – CNN
Sep 10th
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iReport boot camp: Get your stories seen
CNN That's why this week's CNN iReport boot camp challenge looks at search engine optimization, or SEO. CNN.com SEO Manager Topher Kohan has some tips to make … How The “Focus On First” Helps Hide Google's Relevancy Problems |
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SEO Boot Camp 3: You Are Not Your Page Rank – High Position (blog)
Jul 14th
 High Position (blog) |
SEO Boot Camp 3: You Are Not Your Page Rank
High Position (blog) Continuing our series of SEO Boot Camp posts, we're going to discuss another commonly held misconception in the industry and tell you something that a lot … |
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