Productivity and business

SmartSheet makes project tracking easy, and now it's free.

We've covered the Web 2.0 startup SmartSheet a bit over the past two months [see stories on News.com], but we haven't had a hands-on review. In light of two important changes with the product that roll out on Thursday, I thought it would be a good time to take a look at it.

SmartSheet is a tool for tracking group jobs and tasks. It apes the user interface that many people use to track projects--the spreadsheet--but it's got features more like a work flow application. For example, you can highlight a row (usually, a row … Read more

Leave the laptop behind with PortableApps

Most Webware.com readers who use Windows are familiar with two kinds of software: applications that run within the Windows framework, and Web-based applications. Using the former requires access to your own computer; using the latter requires password management and an Internet connection.

Now, the growing availability of software that runs off portable devices makes schlepping your laptop home for the holidays less of a necessity. PortableApps Standard Suite turns your memory device--iPod, Darth Vader Flash drive or even your digital camera's memory card--into a software and personal file manager.

Here's how to get started: Grab the PortableApps … Read more

Buffer overflow in Microsoft Works 8

Vulnerabilities specific to Microsoft Works Spreadsheet 8.0 allows remote attackers to create a denial of service (crash) via a specially crafted Excel file. There are two specific vulnerabilities, and each involve memory corruption and NULL pointer dereference errors when processing malformed WKS or XLR files. Successful execution, however, requires users to open a malicious file.

Additional Resources:

French Security Incident Response Team: ADV-2006-2813 National Institute of Standards and Technology: CVE-2006-3653 and CVE-2006-3654

Buffer overflow in Microsoft Hyperlink Object Library

There's a buffer overflow within the Microsoft Hyperlink Object Library (hlink.dll) that allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service attack and then possibly execute arbitrary code on the compromised PC. This is done via a long hyperlink, as demonstrated when using an Excel worksheet with a long HTML link in Unicode.

Although this sounds similar, this vulnerability is a different from the Unspecified vulnerability in Microsoft Excel, or CVE-2006-3059. This flaw was patched in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-050.

Additional Resources:

Vendor Patch Information: MS06-050 NIST CVE #: CVE-2006-3086 US-CERT Vulnerability #: VU39444 Secunia advisory #: 20748

Zoho fills Office vacancy

Zoho wasted no time filling the gap that Microsoft left between its new Office software and the Web. There's no online version of Office 2007; nor has Redmond built a bridge for consumers to quickly migrate desktop files to an online folder for anywhere-access.

But now, if you spend a minute to download this free plug-in for Office, you'll get no-brainer buttons within Word and Excel that save work to Zoho's servers. Zoho's buttons show up within the Add-Ins tab on the Office 2007 Ribbon toolbar.

When away from your desk, you can log into Zoho … Read more

Work in Office 2007? Can't take it with you

Today ushers in a new era for Microsoft Office--and with it, a sweeping set of surprises for users. Businesses now have the green light to download multiuser suites of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and associated software that will save your work in new, XML-based file formats by default.

Microsoft hopes for users to embrace the radically different Office 2007, which offers more tools for bloggers and amateur desktop publishers. You won't find Office 2007 on store shelves until January 30. In the meantime, a growing number of people are turning to free services with fewer features and more collaboration capabilities. … Read more

AskItOnline makes surveys easy. But will they be good?

One of the best examples of everything that's right about this whole Web 2.0 thing is WuFoo, the service that makes creating a Web form -- and collecting data from it -- about as simple as dreaming up a few questions. Recently I heard about a similar site, AskItOnline, that is being designed for the somewhat different job of collecting data from surveys.

I wasn't going to write about AskItOnline just yet since the site is still in closed beta and many necessary features haven't yet been built. But I saw it pop up on Del.icio.us, … Read more

HyperOffice takes on Outlook and Exchange

Outlook can do a lot, but you've got to do a lot to get it there. Very small businesses that aren't willing to invest the time or money in setting up a slick Outlook/Exchange installation can now get decent communication suites online. Previously I've covered Joyent (see also their limerick), and most recently I got pitched on HyperOffice, another online suite with email, a calendar, a contact manager, and collaboration features.

I took the suite for a quick spin. It's got solid workgroup functionality and a lot of the collaboration features that small businesses will … Read more

Google Apps for Your Domain gets customizable start page

Google just put a new feature in its Google Apps for Your Domain suite of services: a "start page." This is a new corporate version of Google's existing personal start page, for people inside a company using Google's apps for e-mail and calendaring. The differences between the standard Google start page and this product are that administrators can design the page, can lock down all or part of it, and can give it a custom URL.

Setting up a company intranet page is certainly easy with this tool, but Google's business services are still a … Read more