Like a Genius Bar, Except Without the Black T-Shirts and the Bar Part
The quirky Gates-Seinfeld Vista ad that doesn’t mention Vista may be today’s biggest tech story, but it’s only one front in an elaborate plan to reignite interest in Windows which Microsoft made public today. Another initiative involves sending “Microsoft Gurus” to retail stores such as Best Buy to answer consumers’ questions about Windows PCs. It’s an obvious knockoff of Apple’s Genius Bars, but if it’s done right, it’s an excellent idea: One of the problems with most computer retailers other than Apple Stores is that staffers’ levels of expertise is erratic to say the least. The Gurus aren’t going to be able to replicate the Genius experience–Geniuses fix computers as well as provide general advice–but they stand a better chance of making life better for Windows users than Jerry Seinfeld ever could.

Read more at: All About Microsoft

Joost in the Browser
Joost, the video service launched last year by the creators of Skype and Kazaa, arrived with great fanfare. But compared to newer services like Hulu, it gets remarkably little attention these days. It’s getting attention today, though: It’s going to reportedly dump its client application in favor of a new approach that’s entirely browser-based. That represents a major shift in strategy, but makes a lot of sense. You gotta think that most media services will go browser-only over time–maybe even including iTunes eventually.

Attack of the Facebot
A team of researchers in Greece and Singapore built a “Photo of the Day” Facebook app that held a secret: It was designed to silently launch denial-of-service attacks behind the scenes. The researchers also speak of the possibility of Facebook apps to deposit malware on users’ computers or steal personal data. None of which is really surprising–Facebook applications are, after all, applications…and when you let applications of any sort onto your PC you must accept the possibility of dangerous ones sneaking through.

Google Chrome: Cool! Vulnerable!
Most reviews of Google’s Chrome browser are at least guardedly positive. But browser fans aren’t the only ones downloading it and taking it for a test drive–so are the hackers, good and bad, who find holes in software that bad guys can take advantage of. Google is taking note and working on fixes, and like many a software company before it, it’s politely asking security experts to be careful about how they disclose vulnerabilities. The company presumably knew what it was getting into when it decided to go into the browser business–let’s hope it staffed up with security experts of its own.

Read more at: Zero Day

One Laptop Per Amazon
Starting in November, Amazon.com will sell the One Laptop Per Child Foundation’s XO “$100 laptops” under the “Give One Get One” program that lets buyers pay for one laptop for a deserving child in a developing nation, and one for themselves. That’s a huge relief, since the idea is so worthy but the OLPC Foundation proved incapable of promptly and smoothly delivering the laptops to buyers last holiday season when it tried to do the program without a merchant partner. I finally got my XO months after I ordered it, but I’m tempted to try again this year, so that another kid who needs one gets it.