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November 30, 2007
Boy did Bill Gates need this
With the Vista = New Coke comparisons still flying this story in PC Mag must make Bill Gates heart go pitter patter:
I'm not sure what ticks me off more about Leoptard (I can't take credit for that nickname—some Brit coined it): the fact that so many of the semi-important changes don't work, the fact that Apple turned a stable OS into a crash-happy glitz fest, or that the annoying, scruffy Live Free or Die Hard actor infecting my TV (and our Web site, by the way) is pretending that Leopard is better than Vista. It's not better than Vista. Leopard is Vista. And Tiger is better than both of them!
He is full of praise for Tiger but though his wrath for Leopard is large his wrath for Apple techs is worse:
Hey, at least Microsoft reps have the decency to look a little abashed when you point out their product's screwups. Apple reps just glare at you like they're daring you to say something. Well, I've got something to say. Several somethings.... Here's the point, in case any Apple reps missed it: Microsoft has delivered clear improvements in stability over time—a feat you'd think Apple might want to emulate.
At the end of his three page rant there is a link to a more positive review but either way If I work for Microsoft I print this page out and frame it over the wall.
Posted by Peter at 04:34 PM | Comments (0)
And you think YOU are worried about hackers...
...the military is even more worried:
Military officials say that a cyber attack by foreign enemies or terrorist groups would result in “an electronic Pearl Harbor” that would shut down electricity, banking systems, cell phones and other tools of day-to-day life.Hundreds, and possibly thousands, of more-limited cyber assaults are bombarding the firewalls of government computer systems daily, prompting U.S. officials and military leaders to declare that the United States is already at war on the cyber front.
“America is under widespread attack in cyberspace,” Gen. James E. Cartwright, then-commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, which oversees the military’s computer grid, told Congress in March. “Our freedom to use cyberspace is threatened by the actions of criminals, terrorists and nations alike.”
The interdiction of communications has always been a vital tactic in war. As those communications move to the internet those attacks are naturally heading in that direction. Remember it was just a few months ago that the Chinese military hacked the Pentagon.
It remains to be seen what the hows and whys will be in this realm. The book on the subject has apparently yet to be written but we are far away from A Taste of Armageddon.
Posted by Peter at 08:41 AM | Comments (0)
Maybe this is what they were worried about
CNN is taking a hit for not being able to use Google vis a vis the presidential debate two nights ago. Perhaps their non use of Google was because of this:
Sunbelt first noticed the huge number of infected sites, and their appearance in results lists for a bewildering array of searches, on Sunday. Thomas explained how the attackers managed to beat the search system. "For months now, our research team has monitored a network of bots whose sole purpose is to post spam links and relevant keywords into online forms, typically comment forms and bulletin board forums," he said. "This network, combined with thousands of pages such as the two seen above, have given the attackers very good, if not top, search-engine position for various search terms." Among the hundreds of search terms he had spotted being used were "infinity" and "hospice."
Google has managed to purge most of this stuff while not commenting on if it was done at all. Unfortunately it didn't last long:
Google cleaned up its search index earlier this week, but the original hackers (along with a new group) have responded with a fresh assault, reports anti-spyware firm Sunbelt Software.Once again, plugging innocuous terms into Google, such as "funny drunk quote", can lead to search results where at least some point to malware. The tactic goes hand in hand with establishing thousands of pages on compromised servers that mention targeted terms to obtain a relatively high search engine ranking score.
The money the money the money. Its all about the money. And as long as the money is there the Russian and Chinese sites and others will keep pushing this stuff.
Posted by Peter at 08:12 AM | Comments (0)
November 28, 2007
Catching up with Day by Day pt 2
Today we finally feature the much delayed 2nd part of our follow-up interview with Day by Day's Chris Muir.
We deal a lot more with his embed in Iraq and the state of web reporting in general and of course deal with his ongoing strip and our collective hair loss or lack thereof.
You can listen to it here, (part one is here) and of course you can get the podcast from the iTunes music store keyword HiWired.
Posted by Peter at 05:13 PM | Comments (0)
November 27, 2007
And we want Vista because of what?
Apple has been having a lot of fun with their latest Vista downgrade ads. They are funny but reality is even funnier:
Devil Mountain researchers ran a mix of tests comparing existing versions of the operating systems -- the original Vista and XP SP2 -- and versions that had been patched with the latest updates -- Vista SP1 beta and XP SP3 beta. Tests were also run on machines with 1 Gbyte and 2 Gbytes of memory.Windows XP trounced Windows Vista in all tests -- regardless of the versions used or the amount of memory running on the computer. In fact, XP proved to be roughly twice as fast as Vista in most of the tests.
The results for increasing ram on Vista were even more pathetic.
It this type of stuff keeps coming up Vista might turn out to be the greatest new product since New coke.
Posted by Peter at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)
November 26, 2007
What hot for your PC this year
As the date for my amazon Christmas order approaches (tomorrow I never like to shop on days I work) The question that came to mind is what tech items are hot to trot this year?
Well I saw this blog at zdnet and was nodding my head in agreement since I mister cheap himself was thinking of one:
Hard drives are the “hot” PC accessory this holiday season. Goldman Sachs’ retail checks have found the usual complement of big sellers–notebooks and MP3 players–but hard drives are often riding shotgun with electronics purchases. Apparently, external hard drives are being hawked by salesfolks at Apple stores and other electronic retailers. “Hard drives are the ‘hot’ PC accessory this holiday season, and Seagate and Western Digital dominate the category,” writes Goldman in a research note.
The blog article contains other things of interest but this jumped out at me since at home I have a 80 gig drive that is nearly full. There was a 500 gig drive for just over 100-120. I'm thinking we move everything from the system in the house there as a single massive backup wipe the system then reinstall to have clean images all around (except maybe the vista system). But the amount of data people retain is going to grow REALLY fast and those monster drives will full up pretty quick.
btw remember when the idea of needing a gig was weird? I do.
Posted by Peter at 12:44 PM | Comments (0)
November 25, 2007
This will be so ho-hum in a few years....
.....but right now it is rather amazing, at least to me.
Yes I know it is the logical conclusion of the technology but understanding it is coming is one thing, seeing it for sale is another.
Posted by Peter at 08:52 PM | Comments (0)
November 24, 2007
Bad form SF Gate and how we do it.
Let me start this post by restating our comment policy.
Comments are monitored. No comment makes it up until I have approved it. I usually do this once per day at the beginning of my shift or when I get around to it on my days off (like today). If I see a comment that needs a reply I will usually reply with a further comment and check for further stuff later in the day.
Your comment may not make it up if:
#1. If they are spam or "please link to me" comments.
#2 If they are not germane to the discussion. A comment of "Hi Mom" on a thread about spyware won't make it up.
#3 Comments might go up edited if they contain vulgarity but are germane.
Disagreements, corrections and ridicule are not grounds for excluding a comment.
Apparently the San Francisco Gate has a more devious policy:
If you make a comment on an article posted at SFGate, and if the site moderators then subsequently delete your comment for whatever reason, it will only appear as deleted to the other readers. HOWEVER, your comment will NOT appear to be deleted if viewed from your own computer! The Chronicle's goal is to trick deleted commenters into not knowing their comments were in fact deleted. I'll give evidence below showing how they do this.
Glenn Reynolds has the best comment on the subject:
I'm torn between disgust and admiration for their cleverness . . .
I'm not; its bad form all around. Particularly from a newspaper.
Posted by Peter at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)
November 23, 2007
St. John and the Phishing post.
If you are any sort of a Christian (such as a Roman Catholic like myself) you may have heard the story of St. John the Apostle in his old age teaching on the island of Eshesus.
The tale goes that he would call the faithful together for the lesson which would invariably be: "love one another." One of the faithful comes up to him and asks: "Master John you give us the same lesson every day, isn't there something new you wish to teach us?" He replies: "When you have learned that lesson we will go on with the next one."
I bring up that tale because today I got a phishing e-mail in an attempt to steal my Amazon info. I've posted examples in the past more than once but as it is a lesson that has not always been learned I thought it would be a good idea to post this one as well to remind you that particularly during this time of year when so much Christmas shopping is going online you must be wary:
Anyway here is the e-mail sans working link in the extended entry: my clues are in Bold Italics
Remember none of these companies will ever send you e-mail of this nature concerning your account.
start of phony letter
-------------------------------------------------------
Dear Amazon® member,
We are contacting you to inform you that our Account Review Team identified some unusual activity in your account. Amazon is a store there is no such thing as "unusual activity" In accordance with Amazon's User Agreement and to ensure that your account has not been compromised, access to your account was limited. Your account access will remain limited until this issue has been resolved. To secure your account and quickly restore full access, we may require some additional information from you for the following reason: We have been notified that a card associated with your account has been reported as lost or stolen, or that there were additional problems with your card. Not all amazon customer have Amazon cards and if there was an issue with the credit card they would CALL you. E-mail isn't always checked and address' may be wrong.
This process is mandatory, and if not completed within the nearest time your account or credit card may be subject for temporary suspension. Anytime you see the word MANDATORY or SUSPENSION odds are you are dealing with a phony.
To securely confirm your Amazon information please click on the link bellow:
http://www.amazon.com/ left out a ton of the name since I don't want you clicking on the link/homepage.html/ref=ya_hp_sub_1/104-4436503-7329515?ie=UTF8&method=GET
This is actually a much better job of faking it than other stuff it has an amazon heading, the key to the phony is the stuff at the end. Almost all web pages end in .html or something. this one continues on, address must be spoofed somehow.
We encourage you to log in and perform the steps necessary to restore your account access as soon as possible. Allowing your account access to remain limited for an extended period of time may result in further limitations on the use of your account and possible account closure.
Of course you could test this by just going on and trying it but then again if you did you would figure it out and we can't have that, we are trying to commit fraud here you know.
For more information about how to protect your account please visit Amazon Security Center. We apologize for any incovenience this may cause, and we apriciate your assistance in helping us to maintain the integrity of the entire Amazon system.
The big clue is the spelling. Big form letters usually are spell checked. This one wasn't. That is the final clue to the Puzzle.
Thank you for using Amazon!
The Amazon Team
Privacy Notice © 1995-2007, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
---------------------------------------
end of phony letter.
Remember don't be fooled, the internet is the wild west. Keep your eyes open.
Posted by Peter at 11:12 AM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving
Today is Thanksgiving Day a National Holiday.
HiWired as usual will be open 24/7 to serve all your needs as we prepare for one of the two traditional busy periods in the call center business (Christmas week is the 2nd).
We wish all our customers a very Happy Thanksgiving and a safe travel weekend.
Posted by Peter at 06:09 PM | Comments (0)
November 21, 2007
I'm impressed easy
Yesterday at K-Mart I came across the digital frames for the first time. It is an unsurprising development but a real change when you think about it.
Today I set up my first wireless digital camera. Again not a surprise but the first time for me.
I'm old enough to have used a manual typewriter, in my first computer position there was still one punch card machine, so this stuff still impresses me.
I hope you all have a happy thanksgiving tomorrow and reflect on all we have to be thankful for, including the never-ending supply of cool gadgets.
Posted by Peter at 10:31 PM | Comments (0)
November 20, 2007
You can do anything with google
Google what a product, for all its faults you can do many things, shop, search, find maps, crack passwords:
Instead, I asked Google. I found, for example, a genealogy page listing people with the surname “Anthony”, and an advert for a house, signing off “Please Call for showing. Thank you, Anthony”. And indeed, the MD5 hash of “Anthony” was the database entry for the attacker. I had discovered his password.
The details are kinda technical but the bottom line is this, if he can discover passwords this way then somebody else sure can.
Via Slashdot.
Posted by Peter at 05:19 PM | Comments (0)
November 19, 2007
Ming shows you
Ever wonder what is inside a pc? Well wonder no further:
Although this is a server the basics are the same. The big difference is this one might have an embedded operating system.
Posted by Peter at 08:18 PM | Comments (0)
November 18, 2007
check that key
My brother brought home the fact that you can't neglect the simplest possible causes for big problems.
Today he woke me up from a dead sleep in panic that his computer wouldn't boot and all his business records were lost. Realize that his system is not on the internet (by choice) and he is doing everything on a old windows 95 system with 16 mb of ram (also by choice).
While I was contemplating the possibility of having to the old fashioned line by line system restore (this predates both the system restore program in ME and up AND the scanreg /restore command from 98 we did a quick check of his system and had him restart. That's when he discovered one of his many cats knocked something onto a key and that key was creating the bad boot command preventing him from starting up.
After he breathed a sigh of relief I gave him advice on picking up a system to get him into the 21st century.
All of this came from a depressed key. This is a lot more common than you may think. Keyboards are not sturdy or expensive (well mostly not expensive) but a broken or pressed key can wreak havoc from preventing a boot to changing the keyboard response of everything. My brother was ready to throw the system out the window. Don't let that happen to you.
Keep a spare keyboard around, keep your current keyboard free of obstructions and clean. (a quick way to clean between the keys is a piece of tape reversed run between them.) Make sure nothing is hitting those keys. If you have a laptop leave it closed when off, cats particularly love warm laptops.
The smashed computer you save might be your own.
Posted by Peter at 06:44 PM | Comments (0)
November 17, 2007
My bad big time I think I grabbed the wrong link
As you might guess some days when I don't have something in my head to write about I go looking around the net for tech news. It turns out the Turbo tax story I posted a few days ago was rather old news. I don't know how I managed to miss the date when reading the story but it is totally my bad.
I've included a correction to the actual post but since it was a rather egregious mistake I figured it deserved a correction of its own.
This story and suit however are current:
A Philadelphia woman is seeking class action status for a lawsuit accusing H&R Block, Intuit and other tax software makers of overcharging consumers who pay to file their taxes online.The class, if approved, could number tens of millions of people, according to lawyers who filed the federal lawsuit this week in Philadelphia.
I suspect that I meant to grab the link to this story the first time but opened the wrong window while searching, either way its still my bad.
Posted by Peter at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)
Oldest profession + Newer Technology = Police Headache
Like many other online business, the worlds oldest profession has discovered that you can use the internet not only to make arrest less likely but also to cut out the middleman:
James said many of the online call girls are bypassing pimps and inviting potential customers to meet them at a location selected by the prostitute.James said the prostitutes used to make a lot of money on main thorough fares, but it was easier for cops to make arrests. Now that many prostitutes are taking their business to cyberspace, the veil of virtual anonymity has made it much more difficult for police to arrest them.
In the end this had to happen. The technology might change but people always remain the same.
Posted by Peter at 09:08 PM | Comments (0)
November 16, 2007
Ghostbusters the game?
Clouded by other games saturating the market right now? Me too! Well a game being developed by Sierra should be a huge hit for ghostbusters fans, 80s fans and game fans in general.. I will even post a gameplay screenshot with The stay-Puft marshmello man and Slimer! Youre welcome! The game will feature the original cast from the films including Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson! Im not sure who played the Stay-Puft marshmellow man but hes in it too! The games' story is actually written by the movie writers. You play as a new recruit to help rid Manhatten of its huge ghost problem. Just remember to not cross the streams and you'll be fine! Enjoy this gameplay footage and the screenshots. The game was just announced so to have this media tells us that we could have it pretty soon! Please visit ghostbustersgame.com for more information.
Click continue reading link below for screenshots!
Pictures from ghostbustersgame.com
Gameplay footage from G4tv.com (the feed)
Posted by Dustin at 01:45 PM | Comments (0)
my beowulf review
Just came back from seeing beowulf 3d and I just have to say. WOW! I went in thinking it was anohter failed atempt at motion capture and bad acting but I was so wrong. Not only was the acting good but the graphics were amazing! There are parts where you think its actually real. The effects, animations, sound and music were phenomenal! 3d was an awsome touch too, they made it so plenty of things fly at you and make you feel like your actually there fighting monsters. The story itself was very much inline with the story and all in all.. I'd say go to your nearest Imax and watch this.. youll thank me!
Posted by Dustin at 12:06 AM | Comments (0)
November 15, 2007
I guess I don't get any of this action (Update old news)
As many of our customers know I'm kind of old fashioned. I don't own a cell phone and I do all my taxes myself and by hand. So I guess that means that this Turbo Tax Lawsuit is not going to make me a penny:
The suit alleges Intuit engaged in unfair and deceptive business practices by failing to fully disclose the mechanisms and consequences of "product activation," technology Intuit added to TurboTax to tie each copy of the software to a single PC. Widespread customer complaints about the product activation, enabled by Macrovision's SafeCast software, have ranged from concerns that SafeCast surreptitiously stores information on hidden areas of a PC's hard disk to difficulties getting TurboTax to work again if the owner switches hard drives or PCs.Intuit executives have pledged to eliminate some of the most controversial technical aspects of product activation in future versions of TurboTax.
Personally I want to know what each line and deduction means I don't want a pc to tell me otherwise, but I'm surely in the minority on that one.
Update: Somehow I managed to miss that this is a VERY old story. I don't know how I managed to do so. My bad big time. If I wanted to deal with a current suit concerning Intuit I should have used this link.
Posted by Peter at 02:29 PM | Comments (1)
Marvel takes comics to the next level with Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited
Marvel comic books are hitting the web and fast! They just announced their digital comic book service and its looking pretty good. Theyre actually giving this service at a great price, $4.99 a month ( 59.98 anually ) or $9.99 a month ( billed monthly ). Once a subscriber you have access to the collection of old and new comicbooks, plus the ones that come out monthly. The quality is great, take a look at 250 free sample comic books they have up right now by clicking the following link:
http://www.marvel.com/digitalcomics/
Posted by Dustin at 09:17 AM | Comments (0)
November 14, 2007
Dreamscenes for all Vista users!!
Stardock announces DeskScapes 2.0 with the ability to add dreamscenes to any version of Windows Vista not just Ultimate edition. What is a dreamscene? A dreamscene is a desktop background that is a video.. basically a moving background. Up until this point it has not been on other Vista versions.
Go to http://dream.wincustomize.com/index.aspx?c=1 for more information!
Posted by Dustin at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)
OS X 10.5 Leopard dominates Vista in Japan
Saw this while over at Macrumors
Apple's Mac OS 10.5 Leopard launch will go down in history as record-breaking, both internal and external. In Japan, sales went up to 60.5% market share year-on year in the month of October, which was enough to bump Microsoft from the top spot (reports Macworld.co.uk citing a Japanese Business Computer News report)
In the six days after Leopard's 26 October launch, combined single-user licence (46 per cent) and family pack (7.9 per cent) sales accounted for 53.9 per cent of the total OS-only market in Japan.
However, at Microsoft, Windows sales fell from 75.3 per cent to 28.7 per cent
Apple had already indicated that the Leopard launch was highly successful, with two million copies sold in the first weekend alone.
Posted by Chrisk at 04:59 PM | Comments (0)
New PC Now what? pt 4 The kids pc option
Ok you've read parts 1 2 & 3 and our new PC set it up and you've decided to make this PC the kids PC. Here are the things you should consider before the kids get their hands on it.
1. Location Location Location
Simple rule, if the PC is used where you seen them (family room) you will see what they are doing, if it is not, then you won't.
2. Personal info:
You really don't want to leave any of your personal/business info on a computer that is going to be a kids/teen pc. Consider wiping it and reinstalling the OS on the system, not only will this be a faster system for them that way but it will mean that if security is breached it won't mean your data is.
3. No Network no problem
Resist the urge to network this pc to the home network. Again if it is a kids machine we want to limit the damage that they can do to your system.
4. Anti-virus/Spyware
Make sure a good anti-virus/spyware is on that system particualrly if this is a laptop that will travel with the kids, again may we suggest our PC Restoration/PC Guardian choices?
5. Admin rights:
This is a tough call if this is the kids machine and you don't give them admin rights then every time they want to install something they have to run to you. You have to decide if this is a good or bad thing because they will run to you a LOT. If you give them admin right I STRONGLY suggest you play the "you break it you pay to fix it rule." That is if their system gets infected let THEM pay for the PC Restoration.
6. Parental controls:
If this is machine for younger kids you want to install and configure parental controls. don't use the IE controls and they won't apply to Firefox, opera etc...Consider protection that has a "blind" install, that is an install that can't be unintalled without a code and/or doesn't appear without one. Also don't forget many of these programs have time limit settings that are great for keeping them from playing all night without your knowledge.
7. It is a B machine:
The kids should be made aware that as a B machine is may not have the ram or the video card to allow some of the newest games to play. Thats why we have paper routes and part time jobs to pay for ram and cards. Or if you want to be a nice guy you can always make those upgrades yourself for them, as soon as their room is clean, and the homework done and the trash is out... you get the picture.
8. Network printing
Consider getting a printer off your router and sharing it with the kids system, that way if they print you know about it. This also eliminates both the need to open a port to your system on a network printer and the large and interesting print collections that teenage boys will create if they have an unmonitored printer in their room.
9. What you don't know WILL hurt you and maybe them.
Remember that when a kid or teen is on the net outside of your line of sight all the normal dangers of life apply. Make it a point to check out their system to see what is going on. They may object....TOUGH you are the parent is part of the job description. Don't forget our "Look what we have here" series from two years ago if you want to see what's been going on.
These steps will help make the B machine useful for you and the kids while keeping everyone safe.
Posted by Peter at 01:31 PM | Comments (0)
November 13, 2007
Bigger size mean a bigger target.
Fresh off their win against Microsoft Europe is giving some attention to a proposed Google's proposed merger with doubleclick:
"The Commission's initial market investigation indicated that the proposed merger would raise competition concerns in the markets for intermediation and ad serving in online advertising," the European Commission's competition unit said in a statement.The statement added that the decision to extend the review process "does not prejudge the final result of the investigation."
The bigger you are the more attention you will get.
Mergers are all well and good but if you make the better project you are going to make the better business.
Posted by Peter at 05:39 PM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2007
Would you like a trojan with that hard drive?
Well never let it be said that the only things I wrote concerning China had to do with internet speech:
Investigators say the tainted Maxtor portable hard disc, made by Seagate, uploads information saved on the computer automatically to Web sites in Beijing
This is not the type of news you want to hear right before the Christmas shopping season.
Posted by Peter at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)
Encryption what encryption?
Here is some not so great news via Slashdot:
A group of researchers headed by Dr. Benny Pinkas from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Haifa succeeded in finding a security vulnerability in Microsoft's "Windows 2000" operating system. The significance of the loophole: emails, passwords, credit card numbers, if they were typed into the computer, and actually all correspondence that emanated from a computer using "Windows 2000" is susceptible to tracking. "This is not a theoretical discovery. Anyone who exploits this security loophole can definitely access this information on other computers," remarked Dr. Pinkas.
If this doesn't get those last uses off 2000 nothing will. Of course if the RNG is similar in later OS' this could bloom into real trouble.
Posted by Peter at 08:11 PM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2007
Remembering
Today is November 11th Traditional Veterans day in the US (also known as decoration day). It is Remembrance, Poppy or Armistice Day in the UK and countries in the British Commonwealth and France.
Here in the US Veterans day will be celebrated tomorrow.
HiWired will as always be open 24/7 to provide tech support.
We wish all vets everywhere the very best and thank them for their service. We particularly remember the very few remaining World War I vets worldwide (between 28 & 31 at last count).
The next time you seen an elderly gentleman say of 80 or more there is an excellent chance that he saw service during World War II. I would suggest taking the time to introduce yourself, say thanks and get some first hand information. It is a source of living history that will soon be gone.
Also it is worth noting that Google has decided to mark Veterans day this year. One odd thing is the helmet icon used would be a great fit for all the British and Commonwealth nations yet does not appear on those sites. This is passing strange as they marked the day in Canada last year with a very tasteful display.
And of course don't forget Project Valour IT.
UPDATE: The New York Times has a great story today about the last Doughboy who actually made it to France:
The years since have seen the passing of one last after another — the last combat-wounded veteran, the last Marine, the last African-American, the last Yeomanette — until, now, we are down to the last of the last.It’s hard for anyone, I imagine, to say for certain what it is that we will lose when Frank Buckles dies. It’s not that World War I will then become history; it’s been history for a long time now. But it will become a different kind of history, the kind we can’t quite touch anymore, the kind that will, from that point on, always be just beyond our grasp somehow. We can’t stop that from happening. But we should, at least, take notice of it.
The trick is to remember and appreciate, as long as we do that we've got him covered.
Posted by Peter at 05:25 PM | Comments (0)
November 10, 2007
Another reason to avoid myspace
Well looks like an infection is spreading through Myspace:
Members fall into the phishing net by clicking on a provided link in the posting, which in some cases comes in the form of what looks like a video featuring a scantily-clad young woman. After clicking on the link, the member is taken to a faux MySpace login page where the user is asked to re-enter his or her username and password. That information, however, is actually being sent to the "phisher," a third party illegally acquiring the member's personal information.
A scantily clad women video used as bait for people to fall for a phishing scam? I'm shocked SHOCKED!
Posted by Peter at 11:09 PM | Comments (0)
November 08, 2007
Security Awareness
Here is a classic security breach where a phishing attack is used to lewer someone into a fake site and trick them into providing the credentials for the real site. The victim was a Salesforce employee and the scammer scored customers personal information.CLICK HERE to read. If your a Salesforce customer I encourage you to take advantage of the seminar to educate you on how to prevent falling for phishing scams which some customers have already fallen victim. In this case since the scammer seams to have the customer information I imagine these emails actually address the customers by name making it harder to detect.
Next is another classic case where a laptop is left in a car containing some customers personal information. The information was not encrypted which means if the thief takes a look he will be able to read everything. Laptop contained 133,000 Florida residents information, 86,670 drivers licenses information from Miami area, and much more. CLICK HERE to read
Posted by Hector at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)
New Machine now what Pt 3 (old machine)
Ok you now have the your new machine set up The question becomes what to do about the old machine?
There are pretty much three choices:
Make it your B machine Give it to the kids Sell/donate it/trash it
We will cover each choices over the next couple of days. Today we will talk about the "B" machine option.
Why keep a B machine?
Accessibilty:The "B" machine gives flexibility to a business/family That means no fight over a single machine.
Flexibility:
The "B" machines give you a functioning machine when (not if) the "A" machine goes down. It can also serve as a test control to debug issue with an "A" machine.
Backup/Network:
The "B" machine means that key data can be backed up to a shared drive and a network system.
There are some things that people tend to forget when using a B machine that can mean trouble Here are some things to remember:
1. Don't neglect the updates:
Just because you aren't using the machine daily doesn't mean that security updates aren't coming out for that system. On at least a weekly basis make sure windows updates are done on the system so that hackers don't get into security holes.
2. Don't neglect the anti-virus:
People will often let paid anti-virus lapse on a B machine. This is only natural since it is getting less use. But that doesn't mean that the machine should be left wide open. Install free versions such as AVG and Spyware Terminator when you are retiring the machine. Consider doing it at once as it is very easy to forget when the stuff you aren't using expires.
3. Personal/Financial data.
Its a bad idea to keep financial/personal data on a machine that is forgotten. Hackers won't forget the week link. Take that data burn it to cd and get it off that system. You can keep the cd's handy in case of need (due to a down "A" system) but don't keep the data there. If the "B" machine is going to have steady use with the A machine then you can be more flexible as to what stays and where.
4. Saved passwords:
Saved passwords are a key into many sites that you might be registered to online. If you forget that they are saved then anyone on that B machine is one click away from a successful Phishing trip.
5. Out with the old and in with the new:
Old extra accounts that are will not be used anymore should be eliminated. New accounts for new users (family/employees) should be made from scratch to be sure your old data doesn't end up in new hands.
The whole idea of a B machine is to give you flexibility without vulnerability. By taking these basic steps you will have that.
Posted by Peter at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)
November 07, 2007
Why Intel didnt build the first PC
Some interesting history worth a read HERE.
Enjoy!
Posted by Hector at 06:49 PM | Comments (0)
More legal silliness
Here we go again, via slashdot another city deciding they want to sue an individual due to a blog post:
Tetley received a letter Monday from the district’s law firm demanding she remove what it termed libelous statements and other “legally offensive” statements posted by her or anonymous users, and refrain from allowing such postings in the future. If she refuses, the district plans to sue her, the demand letter states.
Now since the courts have ruled in the past that districts can't sue for defamation we will likely see individual suits by the people involved.
I think this is a foolish move and one that will make Galveston become the target for scorn and ridicule from the blogosphere and rightly so.
Posted by Peter at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)
That's not even news anymore
You know I don't know what is worse the fact that Yahoo is helping repress speech in China or that the fact they do so doesn't even phase me:
"While technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies," House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, D-Calif., said angrily after hearing from the two Yahoo executives.He angrily urged Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang and General Counsel Michael Callahan to apologize to journalist Shi Tao's mother, who was sitting directly behind them.
Shi Tao was sent to jail for 10 years for engaging in pro-democracy efforts deemed subversive after Yahoo turned over information about his online activities requested by Chinese authorities.
As a Holocaust survivor Rep Lantos knows what he is talking about on this subject.
It's terrible, I'm just not phased, The reason being that I just don't expect better from any of the large companies on this subject. As long as the China trade is where the money is these guys are going to make deals and the human cost be damned. Shi Tao, he is worth caring about Yahoo I just shake my head.
Posted by Peter at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)
New Machine Now what part 2 (laptops)
We will now add a few laptop specific tips to the list of suggestions that we gave yesterday:
1. Mini Surge protector
If you haven't already purchased one go off an purchase a hand held surge protector. Laptops are meant to move around that doesn't make them any less vulnerable to surge and you don't know the power situation.
2. Buy a bag
In our podcast with Jeromy Patriquin he was always bemused when someone came in with a $2000 laptop carried in a 1 cent Market Basket plastic bag. If you are going to carry a laptop at least have a half decent bag that will protect it from rain and shock. Pick up that bag while you are getting that surge protector.
3. Vent that laptop
While your picking up that bag and that surge protector pick up a venting platform. Just two days ago I talked to a new customer who was replacing a dead laptop that was used regularly on the carpet. If the laptop isn't vented it is going to die pretty fast. (Venting applies to a desktop, VCR, modem and the lot. but that is a question of placement not of extra stuff.)
4. Wireless security
If you have a laptop odds are you have wireless or picked up a wireless setup. That is the time to set up security to make sure aren't buying internet for the whole neighborhood. Its also a good idea to make sure that the neighbors system is not the default connection you are using. Might we suggest our wireless setup?
Tomorrow we will talk about what do with the computer you are replacing.
Posted by Peter at 08:46 AM | Comments (0)
Alwil moving up in the world!!
Speaking of Anti-Virus protection.. Alwil makes a great solution called Avast and they have a free version available (Home Edition) so I know you can afford it.
Here is some recent news on Avast latest progress.
I've had a positive experience with Avast on my computers and its my preferred solution.
Posted by Hector at 12:07 AM | Comments (0)
November 06, 2007
New Machine now what? Part 1
With Christmas fast approaching a large amount of new personal computers are about to be purchased. In addition to more business for us that means that there are a few things that you as the PC buyer need to get done once that system comes out of the box. Over the next few days we'll talk a bit about things you need to do before your new PC becomes more than a day or two old.
1. REGISTER REGISTER REGISTER
As soon as you get that new PC home make sure you have registered it. A registered PC has its warranty active and in play. If your system has a physical fault you want to know that your warranty is up and running.
2. Update Update Update
Remember your system is only as updated as the day the system was burned. Run all windows updates right on the spot. Granted with Microsoft's reputation for never having security holes this is a small issue but it should be done anyway(Sarcasm off). Vista offers the chance to run windows updates up front. Take advantage of it and make sure you keep those updates rolling. This is particularly important with Vista SP1 on the way.
3. Anti Virus Anti-spyware
Most systems come with some form of anti-virus/anti-spyware installed on a trial period. I can't count how many customers I've helped that let that protection expire. Naturally we would recommend our PC SETUP service that includes install of anti-virus and anti-spyware, if you don't choose to have us set up your protection (sniff sniff) it is vital that you put some protection on that system. Either one provided by your ISP or a third party choice or purchase the trial software that comes with it.
4. Password and accounts:
If this system is at all going to be used by multiple users particularly children and teens make sure that your primary use account is passworded. If children and teens will be using the PC make sure they have separate accounts with limited rights.
5. Create and store recovery CD/DVDS
Unless you have a home built or a Dell system your computer will likely have a recovery disk program pre-installed. This is used to create a set of restore disks. In theory this can be done at any time but if your system has reached the point where it can't boot that's too late. Create them right now and store them. If your system instead came with full OS disks (read Dell) then store them in a safe place.
6. Backup
Invariably people don't think about backups till it is too late. Now while the system is new is the time to think about a backup system. This will insure that from day one your key data is safe. Of course we recommend our own but some form of regular backup trumps no regular backup even if it is an external drive or a service other than us.
Tomorrow we will talk a bit about some special considerations for laptops.
Posted by Peter at 02:30 PM | Comments (0)
Playstation deprived teen plots to kill parents
This just totally blew my mind.
Click here to have a read.
Posted by Hector at 10:51 AM | Comments (0)
November 05, 2007
The return of project Valour it
Well Veterans day is fast approaching and the annual fund raiser for Project Valour IT (Voice-Activated Laptops for OUR Injured Troops)is in full swing at the Soldiers Angels site. As before there are four "teams" representing each service branch. The blogs on each team and their progress can be seen here. Now I never served but my father served in the Pacific during World War II in the Navy so that is where my dollars are going. But no matter what team you give to the dough will go to wounded service men and women who need it. If you can spare a few bucks please do.Posted by Peter at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)
Ok we are up and running
Well the update of the blog is complete and its looking good.
Speaking of looking good it always looks good when a spammer gets his comeuppance:
Todd Moeller, 28, was sentenced 27 months in prison in a federal court in New York after he was caught making a deal with a government informant to send junk e-mails — known as spam — advertising a computer security program in return for 50 percent of the profits, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan said.
Via slashdot; there is about as much sympathy for guys like this as there is for people who kick animals.
If you haven't heard the word before comeuppance is defined here.
Posted by Peter at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)
November 04, 2007
We be Jammin
As one of the last cell phone holdouts in the world I certainly nodded my head when I read this story (via Glenn):
Individuals using jammers express some guilt about their sabotage, but some clearly have a prankster side, along with some mean-spirited cellphone schadenfreude. “Just watching those dumb teens at the mall get their calls dropped is worth it. Can you hear me now? NO! Good,” the purchaser of a jammer wrote last month in a review on a Web site called DealExtreme.
I can certainly sympathize with the thought but this ignores the fact that A: It's illegal and B: You might be jamming that annoying teen but you also might be jamming that emergency call that a few feet away is making.
Posted by Peter at 12:58 PM | Comments (0)
November 03, 2007
and the nominies are ....
Well the 2007 Web blog nominees are now set. Make your choices among the various categories here.
You can vote for your favorites once a day in each category.
On the tech blog side there are 10 nominees. Smashing Magazine, Gearlog, GoodCleanTech, Tech Rivet, The Apple Blog, Lifehacker, Medgadget, Engadget, ReadWriteWeb and Gizmodo.
Take a peek there's a lot to see there but you only have till Nov 8th.
Posted by Peter at 05:20 PM | Comments (0)
November 02, 2007
Who says cheap is bad
Via Glenn Vodka pundit notices a chance in the Blu Ray vs HD-DVD wars with a new player in the game...Walmart:
The HD-DVD side has been concentrating on price, and they're taking a huge swing for the fences with today's sale. It's a gigantic risk financially. Either Toshiba or Wal-Mart or both are absorbing a very substantial loss by selling these units for $98 (I'd guess just Toshiba, Wal-Mart is too smart to take a hit this big). The HD-DVD drive inside the HD-A2 all by itself is worth more than $98, even without all the associated technology and packaging.So why are they doing it? To capture the market. I heard people saying it in line this morning: "Hey, for $100, if Blu-Ray winds up winning, so what? This one's almost disposable." That argument certainly worked on me; after years of dissing both formats (or more specifically the format war itself), I was up early and at my local 'Mart my own self.
As he says multiply 25 x Wallmarts and that a ton of market.
Posted by Peter at 07:01 PM | Comments (0)
Where is part 2?
Exciting things have been happening here at HiWired. Unfortunately that means some other things have been pushed back, that includes part 2 of Chris Muir's podcast. We hope to have that up before the end of next week.
We are also interested in soliciting some suggestions for future podcasts. Do you have someone you want to hear from, let us know in comments.
Posted by Peter at 01:08 PM | Comments (0)
I think it looks cool
Well as you can see our new look is up and I think its pretty cool.
We still have some tweaking to do so don't be surprised if there is a bit of a changing curve over the next few days.
Posting will continue as normal.
Posted by Peter at 12:25 PM | Comments (0)
November 01, 2007
Speaking of Apple and virus'
Via hot air Mac has a new OS and now it has a new credit card stealing Trojan:
Mac OS X users visiting malicious porn sites are told to download a special codec that will let Apple's Quicktime player to play the porn flicks, but instead of adult treats, users get a malicious trick, according to anti-virus vendor Intego.The OS X Trojan, which infects a computer after a user chooses to download a proprietary codec, hijacks the infected computer's DNS settings. Internet-connected applications use DNS settings to figure out how to translate URLs, such as Wired.com, into the physical address of a server, according to Intego's alert. By hijacking the DNS, the Trojan is able to redirect visits to sites such as banks, eBay and PayPal to fake websites that attempt to harvest user's logins and passwords to commit financial fraud.
As I have said before the supposed invulnerability of the Mac has more to do with the number of users than the OS itself. This first trojan has a limited and easily defined victim profile but it is just the beginning. Once malware authors figure out how few Mac users assume that they can't be hit and surf accordingly the flood gates will open.
Posted by Peter at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)